Healing Bloody Wounds
by Himizu-chan
Summary: Companion piece to The Bloody Ties that Bind. A handsome servant has been in love with a foolish prince for years, but he knows his love will never be returned, especially when both are turned into vampires. A half-gypsy boy has been abused all his life, has never even been shown a single kindness. They find each other and just might find a love to last through eternity. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Healing Bloody Wounds**

A/N: So here's the promised companion piece to The Bloody Ties that Bind! I couldn't help but write this fic once the idea got into my head, so here's my rant about why: As I've explained in previous fanfics, I absolutely LOVE the KyoKao pairing. I think it is just about the cutest thing ever and it's my favorite Ouran slash pairing. (My favorite Ouran het pairing is Mori/Haruhi, please don't make me pick between the two for an overall favorite cuz it can't be done.)

So enjoy, there's lots of drama and romance and sexy vampires that don't fucking sparkle! (Except Tamaki, he's totally allowed to sparkle. So is Honey. But that's it.)

Also, like the last chapter of Bloody Ties, this chapter was written while heavily under the influence of exhaustion and country music, so if it seems a bit off, that's why…

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, but I do own my awesome vampire universe!

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Chapter 1

In the very beginning of the 14th century, a very young man was crowned king after the untimely death of his father. The new king was fond of his wife, but he found his eyes wandering to the more low-born ladies at court while his queen was with child. So he occasionally indulged himself with trysts with the servants and lesser nobles who would never dare to say no to their king. One of these women was a lovely young thing with corn-silk blonde hair and glimmering violet eyes. She was a servant in the castle, and she was easily charmed into her king's bed.

And so it happened that three days after his queen gave birth to a son, that the king's violet-eyed mistress told her king that she was expecting his child. The king did not really mind; his own father had sired several royal bastards who were serving him at court, and he understood the advantage for his newborn son having half-siblings running around. But the queen was less than pleased, and she demanded that both maid and child be disposed of. Of course, the king was still king, and so the maid stayed.

Several months later, she gave birth to a child with the same golden hair and violet eyes that she possessed. The king was enchanted with the child and instantly saw the potential for such a lovely prince. Within hours, he was drafting marriage proposals to send to potential allies, and mother and child were being packed off to a nearby castle. The day they were to depart, the king summoned one of his dearest friends.

The dark-haired man entered the throne room. "You wished to see me, Your Majesty?"

"Yoshio Ootori, my most loyal friend," the king said, rising to greet the other man. "I have a special assignment for you!"

"Does it have anything to do with the maid and her child?" the shrewd lord asked.

"Ah, the gossip has begun," the king sighed. "Your own dear wife has had a child recently, has she not?"

"She has, Your Majesty, thank you for remembering," Yoshio replied.

"Perhaps your dear wife could use another servant in her household?"

"Ahhh…" Yoshio murmured. "Yes, my king, I rather suspect she does."

"Good, good," the king said. "I expect you will treat them well."

And that was how a pretty maid with a baby in her arms and no father in sight found herself being ushered off to the Ootori estate. Of course with the queen still so angry, the child could not be called prince, and he and his mother were supposed to be treated just as any servant would be treated. Still, the servant woman was very conscious of the king's affection for his child, and she raised her boy with the expectation that eventually he would be treated like the prince that he was.

The little prince grew to be a very curious child, constantly wandering throughout the castle. His host, Lord Ootori, was pleasant enough to the boy, though his wife seemed to feel that it was a disgrace to have the woman and child in the house, and hated being reminded of their presence. She had been trying hard to curry favor with the young queen, and housing the king's mistress and bastard son would almost certainly hurt her standing in court, and that of her children, if she did not show appropriate amounts of disdain.

Lord Ootori and his wife had four children, two boys and a girl who were older than the little prince, and another small boy who was the same age. The little prince thought he would have enjoyed playing with them, but the older children had been instructed not to speak to or play with the small boy, and he had never seen the youngest child.

One day, when the young prince was four years old, he was wandering through the halls of the palace he called home when he came across a child he had never seen before. The boy looked to be the same age as him, with jet black hair and slate gray eyes. The slender boy was sitting on a window seat holding a picture book and frowning down at it in concentration. The little prince didn't know the meaning of the word 'shy', so he went straight up to the other boy.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully.

The dark-haired young boy glanced up from the book, made a 'hmph'-type noise, and turned right back to his book.

"What are you reading?" the little prince asked, quite undaunted by the obvious rebuff. Of course, it might not have been obvious to him…

"A book of fables," the boy said at last.

"What are fables?" the prince asked.

The dark-haired boy snorted. "They are stories that teach a lesson. Don't you know anything?"

The little prince shrugged. "Why are you reading that book anyways? Why don't you play a game or something fun?"

"I have more important things to do," the boy said with a sniff. "My father will quiz me on these fables later."

"You can leave it for now and play a game with me, can't you? Just for a few minutes?" the prince wheedled.

Those gray eyes narrowed and he glared at the prince over the top of the book. "You have to be joking. I do not have time for games."

"We're kids. We always have time for games," and the prince's smile was like sunshine as he said this.

The dark-haired boy found his resolve weakening. He had no way of knowing what a familiar feeling that would be whenever he saw that smile or those pleading violet eyes. All he knew was that he was a bored and lonely four-year-old, and this was the first time another child besides his older sister had wanted to play with him. Slowly he marked his place in the book and sat it on the seat next to him. "Fine… but only for a few minutes."

The little prince's smile could have lit up the darkest dungeon. "Great! Let's play hide-and-seek! I'll be it if you want! I'm Tamaki! What's your name?"

"…Kyouya."

And this was how the youngest son of Yoshio Ootori met the boy who would have such a profound impact on his life.

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A/N: I know this is a bit short, but as I explained in the last chapter of Bloody Ties, I have had an absolutely awful few days and it was a bit of a struggle just to get this much out, especially with the deadline I gave myself. But now that I've gotten this started, I'll hopefully fly through it just as fast as I flew through writing Bloody Ties!

Oh, and in case you haven't realized it already, there won't be vampires for a little while, probably until at least chapter three, maybe even chapter four. I was dead-serious when I said I was exploring backstories. Sorry if this disappoints anyone, but the vampire angle will play a HUGE part in the story once I get through all this stuff while Tamaki and Kyouya are kids.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N: I know this story is off to a slow start… I'm exhausted right now… it has been such an awful week… I've barely been home because I've been visiting relatives who are having health problems (one grandparent had a massive heart attack, another broke their foot, another is still recovering from hip replacement surgery, and my mother is preparing for back surgery), and when I am home, I'm too mentally and physically tired to do much writing. I'm not going to abandon any of my fanfics, but until my life gets back on an even keel, I'm simply not getting much writing done at all… But I want to write, I do. I hope this chapter is better than the last one. At least it's longer this time around, and really getting into the fun backstory stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, but I do own this little universe my story is set in.

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Kyouya spent as much time as he could in the company of the blonde servant until both boys were seven years old. It was this year that the queen of the kingdom died giving birth to her fifth child. The king now had three young boys and two girls by his lost queen, and his legacy was secure. But he never could forget the beautiful violet-eyed servant woman and the child she had borne him. So he decided to pay a visit to the Ootori estate.

Lord Yoshio Ootori welcomed his friend and king warmly, as did Lady Ootori. They expressed their sorrow over the loss of the queen, and the king admitted that he was rather grief-stricken over her loss. But he had come with a purpose.

"The servant girl that I sent here seven years ago… she is still here, is she not?"

"She is, Majesty," Lord Ootori responded. "She is well, and so is her boy."

"Bring them to me. I wish to speak with both of them," the king said.

Lady Ootori's lips pressed together and she did not speak. She had never been comfortable having her king's bastard son under her roof. But she rose and went to the door, asking a servant to bring the lovely golden-haired woman.

The king's former mistress had grown thin and tired. She was pale and drawn, but still had a sweet smile, and the king was pleased to see her. They spoke for a few minutes, and the king informed her that he was ready to acknowledge her son as his child, now that his wife was dead and unable to oppose this plan. The woman smoothed her skirts and demurely said that she would respect the king's wishes, no matter what they were.

Meanwhile, Lord and Lady Ootori were speaking to their daughter near the door. When the king and his mistress stopped speaking, they looked expectantly towards the Ootoris.

Lord Ootori bowed to the king. "The boy is in the garden outside with our youngest son, Your Majesty, if you would care to follow me."

"Certainly," the king agreed, following his friend. The servant woman trailed behind them, curious to see how her son would react to meeting his father for the first time.

Childish laughter rang through the garden as the group approached. When the king rounded the corner, he saw a young blonde boy dashing through the garden, laughing and shouting. The boy had the same beautiful golden hair as his mother, and the same laughing violet eyes. He was a perfectly lovely child, and the king was more certain than ever that the boy should be a prince.

Trailing more slowly behind the glimmering blonde was a young boy with the signature Ootori facial features and dark hair. Seeing his father with an obviously important guest, the boy quickly bowed. When his companion ran by, the dark-haired boy grabbed his hand, spinning him to face the visitors. Seeing the visitors to the garden at last, the blonde remembered his manners and bowed while the dark-haired boy let go of him now that he was minding his manners, and seemed to almost fade into the background next to the glimmering prince.

"That is your youngest, Yoshio?" the king asked, gazing at the gray-eyed boy.

"Yes, my son Kyouya. I… had not realized the boys were friends. Kyouya usually keeps to himself."

The king nodded slowly. "He seems protective of my boy."

Yoshio said nothing, just eyed his son carefully.

The servant woman stepped forward. "Tamaki… this is your father," she said softly.

The little blonde boy's eyes lit up. "Really?" he asked. He bowed again. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, sir," he said, sounding very courtly and sophisticated.

"The pleasure is mine, dear boy," the king said happily. He was already making plans. He and Yoshio started walking back to the house. The servant woman lingered.

"Tamaki, you did very well," she told the boy with a smile. Then a cough overtook her and she pulled out a handkerchief to muffle it. She glanced down at the cloth with a tiny frown, then tucked it away. "Don't stay out here much longer, and behave yourself. You are not yet a prince."

"Yes Mother," the boy said. "Come on, Kyouya, let's race!"

The dark-haired child did not run, however, he glanced first at the servant, then at the house, then started to follow the other child, whose hair was like a beacon up ahead.

Within days of his visit, the king commanded that a very lovely palace be entirely renovated for his illegitimate son, and construction began immediately. Lord Ootori told Tamaki and his mother that they would only have to wait for about a year before they could move into their own home. Furthermore, as soon as he moved into his new castle, there would be a ceremony and Tamaki would finally officially be given the title of 'prince'.

Tamaki was delighted to learn all this, and he ran off at once to talk to Kyouya about it. The quiet dark-haired boy simply listened to the noisy blonde, then nodded. "I am happy for you," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, my father wants me to learn this lesson." He turned back to a large book, squinting unhappily down at the tiny print. Tamaki sat down next to the other boy.

"What's wrong? Is the print too small?"

"I'm not sure," Kyouya admitted. "I have difficulty processing the letters sometimes. My father thinks I'm just an idiot."

"You aren't an idiot at all!" Tamaki objected. "You're way smarter than me!"

Kyouya didn't answer him, and went back to squinting at the text. Tamaki wandered off, thinking hard about his friend's problem.

The king sent several courtiers to the castle to see his son and make sure all his needs were met, and Tamaki soon had an idea. Since he'd received a generous allowance from the king, he had no trouble procuring a certain token. Clutching his prize, Tamaki went off in search of Kyouya.

He found the boy in the company of his parents. The adults were arguing angrily while the boy stood meekly in front of them.

"He's simple! We can't let him be around the prince anymore! What if he offends the boy? We'll be ruined!" Lady Ootori exclaimed.

"Simple or not, if we take him away from the prince, that will upset him and he'll tell the king! We have no choice!" Lord Ootori snapped back. Then he glared down at his young son. "If you had just stayed away from that boy like you were told, we wouldn't have to worry about you. Next time, do as you're told!" he snapped, back-handing the young child and knocking him to the floor. Then the parents turned and left the room.

Tamaki ran into the room and knelt down next to Kyouya. "Are you okay?"

Kyouya sat up, rubbing his cheek. "I'm fine. What are you doing here? I thought there was a courtier here to see you."

"Yeah, he's gone already. He was just dropping something off." And Tamaki held out a pretty little dark gray velvet pouch with a silver drawstring.

Kyouya tilted his head to one side, scrutinizing the other boy. "What is it?"

Tamaki's grin widened. "You'll love this!" he exclaimed happily. He opened the pouch, pulling out a pair of glasses.

Kyouya stared at them, never having seen anything like them before. "What is that?"

"They're called glasses, and they're a neat new invention. They're supposed to help you see better."

"I thought your eyesight was fine," Kyouya said.

"It is," Tamaki said. "I got them for you."

Kyouya blinked, his jaw dropping a little. "You… why?"

Tamaki just smiled angelically. "Close your eyes."

Kyouya did so at once. Tamaki crouched in front of the other boy and then put the glasses carefully on the other boy's nose, hooking the temples behind his ears. Once the glasses were straightened, Tamaki sat back on his heels, grinning at his handiwork.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Neither boy noticed that Lord and Lady Ootori had entered the room again and were watching the children with confusion.

Kyouya's gray eyes fluttered open and he stared at Tamaki. Then he stared at his hands held in front on his face, then he stared around the room he was in. "This… is… amazing…" he whispered at last. "I can… see."

"Great! They work!" Tamaki exclaimed happily. "I was worried they wouldn't work at all, but I asked around, and the people said these things really worked, I have no idea how!"

Kyouya's parents exchanged stunned glances. Kyouya had complained of having difficultly reading text, but they had not known about this new invention.

Kyouya was so grateful to Tamaki for helping him that he began finding little ways to pay him back. Since Tamaki had never had any schooling while in the house, the dark-haired boy began educating the blonde himself, teaching him to read and write with infinite patience. In addition, he started sitting in during Tamaki's meetings with the streams of courtiers sent by the king. The boy quickly realized that the young prince was being asked for various favors and loyalties, and the kind-hearted boy simply couldn't refuse such things. The youngest Ootori child promptly began acting as a go-between, keeping Tamaki from doing anything foolish.

Word of these actions quickly got back to the king, who came to visit the Ootori family again. This time, he specifically requested to see young Kyouya, and found him with Tamaki as usual.

"So, I hear you've been helping my son," the king said.

"It's really the least I can do," Kyouya replied, adjusting the spectacles on his nose.

"You seem like a very bright young boy."

"My father hires excellent teachers," Kyouya said simply.

The king nodded, but he was smiling.

Within a few months, the castle was finished. Tamaki and his mother began packing their things for the journey, but Tamaki was depressed about the idea of leaving behind his friend. Kyouya had little to say on the subject, merely helping the young prince pack his things and dodging all the blonde's expressions of dismay.

The day of the move arrived, and the king himself came to supervise the move. As he watched servants begin to load up the trunks, he turned to Yoshio Ootori.

"My friend, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Lord Ootori asked curiously.

"I would like to send your youngest son to live with Tamaki in his palace. I think the boy is an excellent influence on my son, and keeping them together will benefit them both I think. Of course, you will be compensated well for your troubles."

Lady Ootori's eyes lit up at that. "Dearest, I think we should consider it," she said softly. "His Majesty is right, Kyouya and Tamaki have been inseparable."

Lord Ootori knew perfectly well what his wife's motivations were, but it didn't bother him. "Certainly, we can pack Kyouya's things at once. Boys, go get started."

Kyouya and Tamaki both bowed and hurried off. As soon as they were out of sight though, Tamaki threw his arms around his friend. "Can you believe it? We're going to keep living together! Aren't you excited?"

Kyouya looked surprised by the hug at first, but then a small grin appeared on his face and he put one arm around Tamaki for just a moment. "Yeah… I am," he said at last.

Tamaki's grin widened, outshining Kyouya's without even trying. Then he grabbed Kyouya's hand and practically dragged him off to the dark-haired boy's room to pack his things.

Within days, Tamaki was given the title of prince, and the king was once again happily drafting marriage proposals for his handsome young son to various princesses or other noble ladies who could benefit the kingdom by forming a union with the illegitimate prince. But back at the castle, the mood was more sober.

Tamaki's mother had been unwell for many months, and the move and the ceremony had exhausted her. Tamaki was able to procure a doctor for her, but there was little that could be done. She was fading fast from a wasting disease, and no amount of bloodletting or awful tonics could reverse the process.

Tamaki and Kyouya were both approaching their ninth birthdays. Kyouya continued to prove that he was a brilliant and capable young lad, and he was invaluable to Tamaki, educating the boy both in scholarly pursuits and in the ways of the courts. There was also an official tutor for both boys, but even he was impressed with Kyouya's intellect. One afternoon, both boys were studying their lessons when a maid found them.

"Prince Tamaki… please… you must come see your mother… She's asking for you," the maid whispered, her voice shaking.

Tamaki was on his feet at once, dashing past the woman and off to his mother's room. Kyouya looked up at the tutor, who understood at once that lessons should be postponed for a while. Kyouya followed his best friend at a much slower pace.

Tamaki's mother had been given the loveliest room in the palace, a bright and airy place with a beautiful view, and the whole thing was full of flowers and pretty trinkets that Tamaki thought she might like. She, however, was a far cry from her former glory. She had wasted away until she was nearly as emaciated as a skeleton, and her skin had taken on a waxy gray pallor. The glorious blonde hair had become thin and much of it had fallen out. Her once brilliant violet eyes had faded and dulled. Kyouya watched from the doorway as Tamaki sat at her side and held her hand.

"Mother, we'll do something," he whispered. "There's some way to save you, I'm sure of it, I just have to find it…"

The woman smiled, reaching up to touch her son's face. "Darling, there is nothing else you can do for me. You'll be fine though. Your father and Kyouya will take care of you, won't you dear?" she asked, her eyes landing on the dark-haired boy in her doorway. He bowed his head, nodding his assent, but she had already known the answer and was focused on her son again. "You'll be fine, my darling."

Tears pooled in Tamaki's eyes and his lip trembled. "But… Mother…" he whispered.

She stroked his hand. "You'll have a good life, my dear, and that's all I've ever wanted for you. I love you, my son."

"And I love you, Mother," Tamaki whispered, kissing her cheek. He clung tightly to her hand, and she held on as her breathing began to slow. Within a few minutes, it had faded away altogether and her eyes had closed for the last time. Tamaki trembled, his grip on her hand tightening, tears falling silently down his cheeks.

Kyouya stepped up behind the prince and gently pried his mother's hand free, laying both hands across her chest. Then he carefully covered the still form with a sheet before turning to face his best friend. Then he wrapped his arms around Tamaki.

That did it for the prince, and he fell completely into Kyouya's arms, sobbing until he shook while Kyouya held him close, trying to reassure him. And although he was also sorry that Tamaki's mother was gone, for she was a good woman and he'd been very fond of her, he couldn't help but worry about practical concerns. After all, the king was busy at court, and his own parents were more concerned with maintaining their estate and their own positions in court than the welfare of their youngest son and a bastard prince. For all intents and purposes, these little boys who were not yet nine years old were on their own.

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A/N: Well that was a depressing ending. But all this is tremendously important to understanding the relationship between Tamaki and Kyouya.

If you've read Bloody Ties, you know what is coming in the next chapter; you just don't know all the details yet. It should be interesting to write. This is slowly coming together in my head. I really hope I have time to write over the next week or so because this is really getting fun.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Oh my god, I am so sorry about how long this chapter took! As previously explained, my family went through some rough times during the end of April and beginning of May… once most everything was resolved, I got sick, which sucked and made me unable to write. And then I was trying to write chapter 9 of Blow Me One Last Kiss and that motherfucker ended up being like 25 freaking pages, it took FOREVER to write, but it was awesome, so I was happy. And then I finally got to write this chapter! Woohoo!

So I thought I knew exactly where I wanted to end this chapter, but I got a little carried away writing about Tamaki and Kyouya as adorable little kids and teens! So you get this slightly longer chapter of fluff and cuteness! Since I know exactly what's gonna be in the next chapter (which will FINALLY include some goddamn vampires, I promise!), I'll try to update soon. I do have a lot of awesome ideas for this fic, but I might decide to finish Blow Me One Last Kiss first since that one has only the epilogue to write…. I don't know… I'll work it out. In the meantime, enjoy this horrifically delayed chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, I only own my awesome little universe.

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After the death of Tamaki's mother, there was the question of who would assume guardianship over the two boys while they lived in this castle. Obviously the king and Lord Ootori could not do it since they had courtly duties, and Lady Ootori needed to attend to her own older offspring as well as manage the family estate. Since the king was determined that his son must live in his own palace, that meant that a suitable guardian must be found for the boys.

While the question was being argued, the boys remained in the castle and studied under the care of their tutor. Tamaki's lessons were becoming more and more difficult for him, as he was expected to master court manners that had been neglected for the first nine years of his life.

Finally a pair of minor noblemen, relatives of the deceased queen, was found to guard the boys. Even though Kyouya found this to be an idiotic solution, no one asked the opinion of a child who was not yet ten years old. But it was no secret that the queen had been furious that her husband had fathered a bastard child, and that if she were still alive, Tamaki would certainly not be a prince. And, naturally, her relatives were of like mind.

So Kyouya was not particularly surprised when he walked in on the two men tormenting Tamaki by pinning his arms behind his back and dunking his head into a tub of water. That didn't mean he took it well.

"You sure we won't get in trouble for doing this?" one of the men was asking as Tamaki spluttered and coughed, his wet blonde hair plastered to his head.

"He's just a bastard, no one really cares what happens to him. The only reason he's even a prince is because the king thinks he's pretty enough to make a good marriage… so as long as we don't mark up that pretty little face, we can do whatever we want," the other replied.

Kyouya felt his blood boil at that, especially seeing Tamaki so small and helpless, his head being forced back down towards the tub again. Even with his anger though, he kept a clear head. There was a very simple and easy way to stop this from happening ever again, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to protect his friend.

Tamaki yelped as the dark-haired boy appeared from out of nowhere, hitting one of the men as hard as he could. The man snarled and pushed the boy, who turned his head as he fell and struck the edge of a nearby table. When he sat up, a thin cut had opened up and a few blood droplets were running down his cheek like scarlet tears. Tamaki managed to jerk away from his other guardian and run to Kyouya's side.

"Oh, Kyouya!" he yelped, grabbing a handkerchief and holding it to the cut. Then he glared at their guardians. "Look what you did to him!" he exclaimed.

The man who had hit Kyouya just laughed. "If anyone asks, we'll just tell them he was being a saucy brat, and we had to discipline him. No one will blame us."

Kyouya just smiled.

By the next day, the boy's cheek was a lovely mix of purple and red, swollen and throbbing, with the cut standing out as a vivid punctuation in the testament of the violence perpetrated against him. And when a delegate from the king's palace arrived to see the boys and saw Kyouya's injury, he was understandably shocked.

"What happened to you, boy?" he demanded.

One of the guardians stepped in. "It was most unfortunate… he was being much too rambunctious, and he unfortunately ran right into a door."

The delegate looked puzzled as he studied the boy, who was usually engrossed in a book when not keeping the new prince from offering his help to every supplicant. "Is that true, young Master Ootori?" he asked.

"Of course not," Kyouya said, casting a withering glance at his guardians. "They were tormenting Tamaki, and that one struck me when I tried to intervene."

"That sounds like a more likely explanation," the delegate agreed. "I suspect Lord Yoshio will not be pleased to hear how disgracefully his son has been treated."

The guardians went quite pale, and Kyouya just smirked. Tamaki looked from the guardians, to the delegate, and then finally to Kyouya, bemusement written all over his face. The delegate left, issuing dire warnings to the guardians that the king would be told, as would Lord Ootori.

Later, Tamaki slipped into Kyouya's room. He often spent time there, especially when he had nightmares. They would relax together on Kyouya's bed, and sometimes Tamaki even fell asleep there. He came in to see Kyouya reading as usual.

"Why did you do that?" Tamaki asked.

Normally Kyouya would ask him to clarify his statement, but he knew what the young prince meant. "They were going to keep hurting you unless I did something. Letting them hurt me in a visible way was the only way to insure that something would be done.

"I don't understand," Tamaki said at last.

"Maybe their excuse could have worked if I was a more rambunctious child, or perhaps a toddler," Kyouya said dryly, "but everyone from your father's court knows that I wouldn't be dashing around and causing trouble. That's your job," he added with a smirk.

"But…" Tamaki began, then he stopped, biting his lip.

"But what?" Kyouya asked.

"Why couldn't I have been the one to get hurt? I hate seeing you hurt," Tamaki pouted, looking younger than his not-quite-ten years.

"And I hate seeing you hurt as well," Kyouya reminded him. "Besides… Tamaki, it's hard to explain."

"Try anyways."

"Well… you're illegitimate, so your power in court is dependent on your father and on the idea that you'll eventually marry well. My family has had power for many years, and likely will continue to be powerful. My father could utterly ruin those men for hurting me."

"But I'm powerful too. People come here all the time to pledge their loyalty."

"They are people who are gambling. They are gambling that you'll marry a princess and maybe become a king somewhere else, and they want you to give them favors later. They're not really your allies, or your friends."

"I know that," Tamaki said. "I know you're my only real friend," he added, leaning forward to rest his head on Kyouya's shoulder. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure," Kyouya agreed, putting his book aside and blowing out the candle.

"Kyouya?" Tamaki asked after a few minutes.

"What is it?"

"I'm your friend too, right?"

Kyouya reached out and brushed a lock of golden hair off the other boy's face. "Of course you are. My very best friend."

Tamaki grinned, pleased with the answer. He snuggled up close to Kyouya, who put his arm gently around his friend's slender shoulders, protecting him even while they slept. And both boys fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

Their guardians were removed from the castle within a fortnight, and the arguments over who should watch over the boys began anew. It wasn't until the boys were twelve years old that it was finally decided that Kyouya's oldest brother, Yuuichi could be their guardian. And he was the best type of guardian in that he was rarely at the castle, often going off with Lord Ootori to learn his duties as his father's heir.

Both boys were growing up to become distinguished young men. Both were intelligent and quick-witted, and exceptionally handsome. Kyouya was a more subdued and refined handsome with his darker features and the glasses that he continued to wear, while Tamaki was a more vibrant and exuberant handsome, lighting up any room he walked into without even trying. It seemed that every week, there were rumors of a new marriage proposal between Tamaki and some eligible daughter of nobility. Tamaki had never held so much power in his life, and he reveled in it.

Even as he reveled, however, he could not fail to notice the changes in his boon companion. When Yuuichi was around, Kyouya became even more withdrawn, often vanishing into the library for hours on end, and leaving Tamaki to deal with the representatives with Yuuichi's help. And Tamaki could not shake the feeling that the oldest Ootori boy was looking out for his own interests more than the bastard prince's.

One evening, Tamaki could not sleep. Nightmares were far less frequent then they had once been, but they still plagued him too often. So he sought his favorite form of comfort by going to Kyouya's room.

As usual, the dark-haired boy was reading by candlelight at an hour when he should have been sound asleep. Tamaki approached as quietly as could, but the other boy didn't even glance up as he greeted him. "Having trouble sleeping again?"

"Yeah…" Tamaki muttered, scuffing his feet against the rug on the floor. "Can I….?"

Kyouya still didn't look up. "Of course."

Gratefully, Tamaki leapt onto the bed (Kyouya was so used to it that he held the book perfectly steady the entire time) and wormed his way under the covers. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he asked.

"I'm trying to finish a very interesting passage," Kyouya replied.

"You've been in the library so much lately… I'd have thought you'd read every book in the castle by now," Tamaki tried to joke.

"I'm endeavoring to do so," Kyouya replied in his usual even tone, but the corner of his mouth quirked up just a bit.

Tamaki reached out to touch his friend's hand. "Is everything okay? You've been acting weird since your brother came to live with us."

"Nothing's wrong," Kyouya lied, and Tamaki knew it was a lie at once.

"Don't lie to me," he pleaded.

Kyouya finally laid the book down. "I don't know if you've ever noticed, but I don't fit in well with my family. I was rather enjoying being away from them. Yuuichi is better than my father… but not much. I always feel like I won't measure up to my older brothers."

Tamaki sat up. "You shouldn't worry about being like them. You should just be you. My best friend." He leaned forward, brushing a lock of dark hair out of Kyouya's eyes. "I don't want you to ever change."

Kyouya's eyes widened, and some emotion that Tamaki couldn't pinpoint flashed there for the briefest moment before vanishing. Tamaki quickly kissed the other boy's forehead the way his mother had done before she had died, then settled down in the bed. Kyouya blew out the candle and soon the boys were cuddled cozily together, a familiar sleeping arrangement that they were not inclined to change any time soon.

After the reassurances from Tamaki, Kyouya gradually took back his place as the mediator between people seeking Tamaki's favor and the prince himself. Yuuichi continued to sit in on the meetings when he wasn't with their father, but Kyouya noticed what Tamaki had suspected, that the older boy was trying to cultivate favors for the Ootori family rather than looking after the young prince. Kyouya remedied that promptly, keeping his best friend's interests at the forefront of his mind at all times.

He was also glad to be so busy because it distracted him from his own thoughts. It was becoming increasingly clear to Kyouya that his interests in Tamaki were more than just those of best friends. But he never dared to act on these new emotions, preferring to keep their friendship intact at all costs.

As the boys grew older, Yuuichi left to get married, and he was temporarily replaced by the middle brother, Akito. The older boy saw at once that the friendship between his youngest brother and the bastard prince was an unnaturally close one, and he implored his father to remove Kyouya from Tamaki's household. But when such a thing was proposed, Tamaki threw a fit and refused to hear of such a thing.

"Kyouya is the only person I can actually trust!" he argued. "Everyone else wants something from me, they want me to marry their daughter or give them money or help them earn favor in court, but Kyouya actually cares about ME!"

No one actually bothered to ask Kyouya what he wanted… but if he had been asked, he would have replied that of course he wanted to stay with Tamaki. The prince needed someone intelligent and calculating on his side or his compassionate nature would surely let him drown under the weight of petitioners.

The thought of Tamaki marrying some princess or other noble girl made him physically ill, but he was confident that the prince would want to keep him around. After all, a prince needed a steward, someone to manage his day-to-day affairs, and someone the young royal could have complete confidence in. Who better than Kyouya?

When the boys were sixteen, it was announced that Akito was leaving to get married, and there would be no replacement guardian as it had been decided that the boys were capable to governing themselves until Tamaki's inevitable marriage. The night he left, Kyouya was reading late into the night as usual when Tamaki let himself in.

Once they had become teenager, Tamaki had nearly stopped sharing his friend's bed altogether. Perhaps it was because he didn't need the comfort, or perhaps he was simply wary of being caught by Akito (who had spent nearly every night in the castle, unlike Yuuichi). Regardless, Kyouya no longer expected to see his friend every night as he had when they were children, though he didn't let his surprise show when his door creaked open.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Tamaki whispered.

Kyouya chuckled. "Not enough, most likely. Did you need something?"

Tamaki scuffed his feet against the rug, a habit he'd never grown out of. "Kyouya, I know I haven't asked you this in a while… but… can I… I mean, do you mind if…"

Kyouya laid his book down on his lap. "Tamaki… in all the years you've known me, have you ever known me to refuse you anything?"

Tamaki looked up, his expression suddenly shy. "No… You've never ever said no to me. I don't even think you know how."

Kyouya returned the shy smile. "Not to you, at least."

Instead of bounding into the bed as he'd done when he was a child, Tamaki perched hesitantly on the edge of the bed.

"What's the matter?" Kyouya asked, eyes back on the book as he finished the paragraph he'd been reading.

"Nothing… It's just… been a while I guess." And Tamaki finally climbed into bed, burrowing under the covers and instinctively scooted closer to Kyouya and the warmth he provided.

Kyouya laid aside his book and blew out the candle, removing his glasses and carefully placing them on top of the book. He settled himself into the bed, closing his eyes as he listened to Tamaki's soft breathing. He didn't quite jolt when he felt arms snake around him, but it was a near thing.

Tamaki rest his head on Kyouya's chest and wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist. "Kyouya…" he whispered.

Kyouya blinked, squinting down at the luminous blonde hair on his chest. "Yes, Tamaki?"

"Don't ever leave me…" the prince whispered.

Kyouya finally allowed himself to exhale. "Don't worry, I won't," he promised as his own arms snaked around the blonde's shoulders.

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

* * *

A/N: Okay, I'm just the worst type of person. First of all, I had way too much fun writing about the little ten-year-olds sleeping in the same bed all cuddly and adorable… too sweet. And then I go and write this epic blossoming romance, and in the next chapter… I shall destroy it. Because I am an EVIL person. Of course, if you read Bloody Ties, you knew that was coming… The part about the doomed romance at least, not necessarily the part where I'm evil. Though maybe you picked that up too… bwahaha!

Mori and Honey will be in the next chapter! It's gonna be epic, you guys! Wheee!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N: I seriously think I gave myself diabetes writing that last chapter… so we're gonna turn up the angst notch a whole bunch! Woot!

But seriously, I enjoy the Tamaki/Kyouya pairing very much… I do. But I love Kyouya/Kaoru more. And since I already decided that this little series would have Kyouya/Kaoru, my hands are tied. Maybe someday I'll write a fic more like the last chapter, with all the sweetness and fluff… but that day is not today. So enjoy the angst and doomed romance and more angst!

And oh my god… the end of this chapter is where I wanted to end the LAST chapter, think what a monster chapter that would have been! I'm so glad I split it up this way!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club or its characters, only my own awesome universe!

* * *

As Tamaki approached his 18th birthday, the marriage proposals and contracts were becoming much more serious. Tamaki was forced to sit for several official portraits, and he and Kyouya were presented at court and forced to attend several dinners and balls. While at court, the boys had to share a room due to the lack of space in the castle. As they prepared for bed, Tamaki tugged irritably at the high collar of the shirt he'd been forced to don.

"Is this what court life is really like?"

"Almost certainly," Kyouya said. "Haven't you paid attention to your lessons?"

"Of course I have! I knew all the right times to bow, all the people to pay attention to, which fork to use at dinner…" Tamaki trailed off, rolling his eyes. "I just… wasn't prepared for the real thing, I guess. The people couldn't stop staring."

"You're a prince that they've never seen before, not to mention you were the most handsome man at court tonight. Of course they stared," Kyouya said.

"I was not the most handsome!" Tamaki objected. "…Was I really?"

Kyouya laughed. "Not bad, you almost had the false modesty working perfectly."

"Shut up," Tamaki laughed, shoving his best friend playfully. "At least we get to go back home tomorrow."

That was a sentiment Kyouya could agree with. He didn't enjoy life at court either. But he said nothing as he climbed into bed. Tamaki blew out the candle and followed him, the boys slipping right back into their preferred positions, with Tamaki's head pillowed on Kyouya's chest and their arms wrapped around each other. Kyouya rather enjoyed these arrangements, and Tamaki certainly didn't seem to find anything odd about them.

The next day, they headed back to Tamaki's little castle and life went on as normal for quite a while. But then, only four days after Tamaki turned eighteen, a courtier arrived with an urgent message from the king, and the bottom dropped out of Kyouya's stomach.

The king was thrilled to announce that Tamaki's portrait had caught the attention of a lovely young princess of a neighboring kingdom. She was only fifteen, but she was enamored with Tamaki and would accept no other suitor. So now all that was left was for the two kings to arrange the marriage properly.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Kyouya said when the messenger departed.

"I suppose so," Tamaki said with a frown. "But… Kyouya, you'll stay with me, right?"

"As long as the king permits it, certainly," Kyouya said.

"Well I'll make sure that he knows you're to accompany me no matter what!" Tamaki said firmly. "I… I don't think I could survive without you."

Kyouya's heart beat faster hearing that. He was certain that Tamaki wasn't in love with him, it was just his way to be so emotional and open. But Kyouya's heart fluttered nonetheless whenever Tamaki spoke so tenderly to him. "I hope that's not true. I'd hate to be responsible for your death if my father calls me away," he tried to joke.

Tamaki frowned. "Be serious, Kyouya… I wouldn't trust anyone else to do what you do, so you aren't allowed to leave me, understand?"

Kyouya smiled and bowed the exaggerated bow that court officials used when dealing with royalty. "I understand perfectly, my prince."

Tamaki laughed and gave Kyouya a little shove. "Usually I'm the one that can't be serious… Who are you and what have you done with Kyouya?"

Kyouya grinned, but inside, he felt like his heart was shattering. Apparently no matter how many times he reminded himself that eventually Tamaki would be married off, he still was not emotionally prepared to deal with losing his best friend and object of his affection like this. No matter how many times Tamaki assured him that Kyouya would be accompanying him wherever he went, Kyouya knew that things would not, could not, be the same between them once the prince was married. But he was determined not to let his heartbreak show on his face, and outwardly he was the same Kyouya he had always been… reliable, consistent, faithful, devoted… always devoted to the well-being of his prince.

It was eventually decided that Tamaki would marry the princess on the day of her eighteenth birthday, giving them a two-and-a-half year reprieve. Of course, there were many preparations to be made for the wedding, and Kyouya stoically took charge of as many as he could, everything that wasn't being handled by a member of the king's staff. There was excitement in the air, for a royal wedding was always a grand spectacle.

Tamaki himself seemed quite neutral about the whole affair. He saw an official portrait of his bride-to-be and pronounced her lovely, but he showed little interest in communicating with her, and even less interest in the wedding plans. Kyouya considered asking why, but that would mean actually talking about the wedding with the prince, and he could not bring himself to do it.

One evening, less than a year before the wedding was to take place, Kyouya was getting ready for bed when Tamaki entered his room. Kyouya saw at once that the other boy was pale and his cheeks were an unnatural shade of red, and a fissure of alarm raced through him.

"Tamaki? Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm a little warm…" Tamaki admitted. He perched on the edge of Kyouya's bed, and his whole body trembled.

Kyouya put his hand on the boy's forehead. "You're running a fever. You need to lie down."

"Okay," Tamaki agreed. "I'll go back to my room. I don't want to get you sick too."

Kyouya bit his lip, wondering if he should follow the other boy. But he finally decided not to. The best thing for Tamaki at the moment was to sleep.

By the next morning, Tamaki's fever had worsened. Kyouya sent for a doctor at once, and did his best to lower the fever. Despite his best efforts, Tamaki drifted in and out of consciousness as they waited for a doctor to arrive.

The prognosis was grim. The doctor prescribed a tonic and had the young prince bled, but he confided to Kyouya that he had seen a similar fever in other patients, and most had not survived their ordeal.

Kyouya never left Tamaki's bedside, mopping the boy's head with a damp cloth and making sure he took his medicine and had plenty of water to drink. Akito arrived after a few days to take over running certain aspects of the household so that Kyouya could concentrate on caring for his best friend. But soon it became clear to everyone that Tamaki would be extremely lucky to survive much longer.

One morning, nearly two weeks after Tamaki first showed signs of falling ill, Kyouya was sitting at Tamaki's bedside as usual when he realized that no one had come upstairs with a tray of food as they usually did. He was incredibly grateful to the servants for attending to his needs and allowing him to remain at Tamaki's side, though he suspected that they were equally grateful that none of them had to sit at the sickbed. But this morning… breakfast was late. And it had never been late before. Seeing that Tamaki was deep in a peaceful slumber, Kyouya ventured to find out what was going on.

He was surprised to see his brother and the doctor conversing in the hallway, and no servants in sight. "What's going on?" he asked.

Akito and the doctor exchanged glances before the doctor said he was here to check on Tamaki. Akito suggested that the brothers go downstairs and eat a quick breakfast together, and Kyouya agreed. But when he found the kitchen deserted, Kyouya's suspicions grew.

"Akito, what's going on?" he demanded, more insistently this time.

Akito bit his lower lip. "Kyouya, I know you're close to the prince, but…"

"But what?" Kyouya asked.

"Kyouya, he's dying. He's never going to get any better. He'll linger for a couple more days, then he'll die. I dismissed all the servants this morning, and I'm heading home within the hour. If you have any sense, you'll accompany me."

"And leave him here to die alone?" Kyouya asked incredulously.

"Exactly," Akito snapped. "The doctor is going to confirm it, but he's beyond all human help. And thus far, none of us have shown signs of illness. I want to keep it that way. So as your older brother, I'm insisting that you leave with me before you take ill and die as well."

Kyouya took a step backward, his spine straightening. "I won't leave him."

"Kyouya…" Akito sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Damnit, Kyouya… I know how close you two are… But you can't fix him."

"I don't have to fix him," Kyouya said, even though those words tore through his heart and made him want to groan in agony. "He doesn't deserve to die alone. He's a prince."

"He's a bastard, and it was a cruel trick by the king to force our family to care for him for all these years. He's stolen so much of your life."

"He's been my closest friend."

"Kyouya, I will drag you out of here myself if I have to."

"Try it."

The brothers stared at each other, tension heavy in the air between the two of them. Finally Akito's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Damnit, Kyouya… Father will hear of this," he threatened.

"By the time you can get word to Father, Tamaki will be dead and it won't matter anymore," Kyouya whispered, his voice slightly hoarse as he tried and failed to imagine a world without Tamaki. Then he turned and headed back upstairs, determined not to cry in front of his brother.

He met the doctor as he left Tamaki's room. Kyouya tried to squash any false hope before it could rise.

"What's the prognosis?" he asked.

The doctor shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, young master Ootori… but if the boy lives until tomorrow's sunrise, it will be a miracle."

The words hit Kyouya like a punch to the gut. It could not be possible, it simply could not be… "You are certain of this?"

"I'm afraid I am. You had best leave soon. He will not know if you are here or not."

"Thank you," Kyouya said, not bothering to explain that he would stay with Tamaki until the end, whether the prince knew he was there or not. The doctor left and Kyouya took a bracing breath before entering Tamaki's room.

The golden-haired prince lay still upon his bed, his brow damp with sweat. Kyouya moved towards him and automatically grabbed the damp cloth to brush away the sweat and provide a little relief. To his amazement, Tamaki's eyes cracked open.

"Kyo…uya…" he whispered.

"I'm here, Tamaki," Kyouya said gently, caressing the other's hand with his fingertips.

Tamaki's face relaxed into a smile. "I… knew… you… would be…" he gasped. "You… won't… leave… will you?"

"I will never leave you," Kyouya said firmly.

Tamaki's hand clenched around Kyouya's for a moment before relaxing, and those violet eyes, dulled by fever, closed again. Kyouya realized he was trembling and took a deep steadying breath.

Akito did not say goodbye before he left. Kyouya only knew he was gone by the sound of his horse galloping away. Alone in the castle with his dying best friend, Kyouya turned to the one other constant comfort in his life, his beloved books. The current book he was reading was about the occult, and although Kyouya found the whole thing rather primitive, he was intrigued by the notions of vampires and witches. Intellectually, he knew that there were vampires, but not in this kingdom… they had been eradicated years ago. And he was sure that most of the descriptions of vampire life were embellished fairy tales.

Tamaki twitched in his sleep and Kyouya dropped the book as he scrambled to check on him. Once he was satisfied that the prince was resting as comfortably as possible, Kyouya returned to the book. But as his hand hovered over the book, he hesitated.

The book had fallen open to a different page than the one he had been reading, and this one was all about how certain vampires could turn humans into vampires, or into human servants who were bound to them for life. As he read, Kyouya felt a funny flutter in his stomach. If a vampire was powerful enough, it could even bring someone back from the brink of death… And there was a spell to summon a vampire right there on the page…

Kyouya stared at the book for several minutes, scarcely breathing as he considered the implications. It was most likely bogus… almost certainly a sham. And yet… what if it wasn't? He could bargain with a vampire to turn Tamaki into a vampire, bringing him back from the brink of death… and surely Tamaki would want Kyouya as his human servant… to be bound to Tamaki for eternity… Kyouya could not think of a more wonderful fate.

Mind made up, he began to read through the list of things he needed to summon the vampire and began his preparations. It took several hours, but when the sun set, Kyouya was sitting in Tamaki's room, surrounded by everything he needed. He began by drawing a chalk pattern on the floor, making sure it matched the drawing in the book down to the smallest detail. Then he laid out the things he'd been told to collect… a bone at one point, a scrap of silk at another, and on and on, until all six artifacts were there. Last was a small wooden bowl. Kyouya gazed at the bowl, then at the silver knife resting on the floor next to him. He hesitated, then looked at Tamaki.

The prince had become even clammier… he was so desperately pale, his breathing so ragged… Kyouya steeled himself. It had to be now. He began chanting the spell in the book, and as he chanted, he made a clean cut in his pale wrist, letting several drops of scarlet blood fall into the bowl. He finished the chant, and he didn't have to wait long before there was blinding flash of light and two figures stood in the center of the chalk drawing.

Kyouya caught his breath as he stared. He had hoped it would work, prayed it would work… but he had not truly expected it to work.

One of the figures was an incredibly tall male, his skin still faintly bronzed even in undeath, with dark spiky hair and penetrating dark eyes. Despite his intimidating size and presence, it was his companion that Kyouya's eyes latched onto. The boy was small and childlike with golden hair and large golden eyes. He appeared sweet and innocent, but Kyouya could sense a darkness and a power behind this young male, and for the first time, he was actually frightened of what he'd done.

"So you're the one who summoned us," the shorter young man said with a hiss, revealing fangs as he spoke. "It's been a long time since we've been in this kingdom, hasn't it, Takashi?"

"Yes Mitsukuni."

"A very long time… such a shame… There are such delectable people in this region…" The boy licked his lips and moved to the very edge of the chalk circle but did not cross it. "What have you summoned us for, human?"

Kyouya actually gulped. "I… I summoned you so that you could turn my friend."

The boy turned his head towards the pale figure on the bed. "He is at death's door. You hope that I will give him eternal life, I presume…"

Kyouya nodded.

"How touching… What's in it for me?"

Kyouya shivered as those piercing golden eyes rested on him. "Anything. I'll give you anything if you save him."

One light golden eyebrow rose. "Anything?" he repeated, almost mockingly. "He must be very important to you."

Kyouya could only nod as the boy paced just inside the circle. The taller figure had not moved since they arrived, though his dark eyes darted around the room.

"Tell me, why is he so important to you that you would risk summoning vampires to your home and offering anything we might ask for in exchange for his life?" the boy demanded.

Kyouya stared, then glanced towards the prince. The boy waved his hand.

"He will not die for a few hours yet… and we can remain here until sunrise if need be. You have time."

"I… He is my prince and my closest friend. I have served him faithfully since we were children…" Kyouya stammered.

The boy's eyes narrowed. "You are not answering my question truthfully." And without warning, he crossed over the chalk drawing, flying across the room too fast for Kyouya to follow, and latched one small hand around Kyouya's throat.

Kyouya uttered a strangled cry as he felt claws that had not been there before dig into his flesh. Although the boy was much smaller than him, he was much stronger, able to pin Kyouya to the floor easily. One hand gripped his throat while the other grabbed the wrist that Kyouya had cut himself only minutes earlier. One finger traced through the blood that still dripped from the open wound and then the scarlet finger vanished into the boy's mouth.

"Mmm… delectable…" the boy whispered. "You have served this prince faithfully for years, managing every aspect of his life. Doubtless he would be adrift and quite lost without you… You are brilliant, cold, calculating… so incredibly logical and ruthless… except where your prince is concerned. You love him and you would happily die for him. Have I spoken any untruths?"

Kyouya just barely managed to shake his head 'no'.

"I thought not. You took a great risk summoning a vampire to your home… yet you did not hesitate because you hoped it would save his life."

Kyouya could only stare, eyes wide with terror. He didn't know what he had expected from this vampire, but this wasn't it, not by a long shot.

"I have a proposition for you then…" the boy whispered. "Your intelligence and your ruthlessness could prove valuable to me and my clan. I will turn your prince… and then I will turn you as well."

Kyouya's head jerked back, and the boy's grip on his throat tightened ever so slightly.

"Ah, you don't like that, do you? I wonder… Were you hoping that your prince would make you his human servant? You were… I can see it in your eyes."

Kyouya gulped.

"Well I have made up my mind… I will turn you, here and now. Whether your prince is saved… is up to you."

Kyouya's eyes darted towards the still form of his best friend.

"And don't go thinking that you could save him by binding him to yourself once you're turned… You'll be too weak to turn anyone for at least a day… Your prince will be dead. And not the good kind of dead, like me. So the choice is yours… I turn both of you and you can have the satisfaction of knowing you saved his life while your love goes unrequited for eternity… Or I only turn you, and you live with the knowledge that you could have saved him."

Kyouya cursed, so softly that only the sensitive ears of the vampire could have picked it up.

"What's it going to be?" the boy asked, a malicious smile appearing on his childlike features.

"Turn us… both of us…" Kyouya managed to gasp around the claws that still gripped his throat.

The boy's smile widened. "As you wish." And then his fangs appeared and Kyouya's world went black.

* * *

A/N: Wasn't that just horribly angsty and evil? I liked writing the fluff from the last chapter, but damnit all if I don't enjoy this even more… I am just the worst type of person. Oh, and I'm totally getting a kick out of writing for Evil Honey… That was the most awesome thing I've ever done, I'm pretty sure. No matter, he'll be back to his old self… eventually.

I had originally planned to make Tamaki's illness smallpox, but then I realized that his pretty face would be marked by scars, and we just can't have that, now can we? Kyouya would still love him, but the poor boy might try to take his own life if he wasn't pretty anymore. Mwahaha!

I'm almost a hundred percent sure that the twins won't show up until chapter six… I don't think I'll be ready for them next chapter. But they'll be coming soon… Bwahahaha!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A/N: I'm having way too much fun with this. It's just not right. All this angst, and vampire awesomeness… Too much fun. I am the most evil person in the world, tormenting Kyouya like this. I really like him, but he never seems to fare well in my stories…

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, only this awesome little universe.

* * *

Kyouya's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself lying on the floor of a cell. The room was completely empty, the stone walls and floor scrubbed clean, yet the smell of death hung heavily in the air. Kyouya pushed himself to his knees, reaching automatically up to adjust his glasses. They were still there, and mercifully intact. He removed them to polish the lenses, and noted with some amusement that being turned into a vampire had not fixed his eyesight.

The thought of the glasses reminded him suddenly of Tamaki and he looked around, making certain that Tamaki was not huddled in some corner of the room. But it was empty and he was quite alone.

Kyouya tried to stand, but his entire body shook with the effort. His limbs felt too long for his body, everything felt wrong and unfamiliar. His tongue flicked around in his mouth, resting briefly on four new sharp fangs. Then he looked down at himself. His wrist had been bandaged, and his skin was even more pale white than before. His clothes were crusty and it was unpleasant.

Finally Kyouya registered two additional thoughts. He was cold, shivering even… This didn't worry him much; he was often cold, but fire, blankets, and mugs of tea usually did wonders. But the second observation puzzled him… He was starving. He could not recall being so hungry in his life, even when he'd had the flu once and not been able to eat solid food for three days. He was ravenous… and all he could think of was blood, flesh, meat…

Kyouya shivered, not from the cold this time. He drew his arms around his body and tucked his legs in close. He tried to calm himself… but the hunger was overwhelming, and the panic over Tamaki's whereabouts was not helping.

Then he heard someone shouting. "Who are you people? Where's Kyouya?"

"Tamaki…" Kyouya whispered. He tried to stand again, but his body rebelled, and he crumpled back to the floor.

The door of the cell creaked open, and the youthful blonde vampire walked in, carrying a goblet. "Ah, you're awake." He squinted. "You don't look so good."

Kyouya just gave the boy a dirty look and didn't respond.

"Well, it's your own fault for fighting the process," the boy said. "Here, drink. You'll feel better."

Kyouya briefly considered resisting, but he was in no position to try that. So he reached out and accepted the goblet, sniffing the coppery-smelling liquid within. "This is blood…"

"Of course it's blood, silly," the boy said. "You're a vampire, what did you think you were going to drink?"

Kyouya took a cautious sip, but it was bitter and unpleasant, and he coughed, flecks of blood speckling his cupped hand. The boy frowned.

"You're going to have to get used to it. You won't survive long if you can't." And with that, the boy turned and practically glided out of the room.

Kyouya tried again to drink the blood, but he could not get past the stinging taste and smell... Even when he managed to take a few drinks, he vomited it back up within minutes, and the resulting smell was enough to make him sick all over again.

The boy came in often with fresh blood, haranguing him to drink and dryly remarking that the bargain would not be complete until Kyouya did this, but he could not do it. His body was rejecting the blood, and gradually his strength was draining away.

Kyouya lost all track of time, so he wasn't sure how long he had been there when the door opened yet again. He was slumped against a wall across from the door, and he didn't move as quiet footsteps approached. But whoever had entered the cell didn't speak either. Finally Kyouya looked up to see the tall vampire from the night he'd made his bargain with the blonde vampire.

"So he's tired to harassing me and has sent someone else?" Kyouya muttered. "It won't make a difference."

"You have rejected the transformation," the tall vampire said, his deep voice surprisingly soothing. "It happens sometimes, especially if there was reluctance."

Kyouya managed a bitter laugh. "Oh, there was reluctance... I didn't want this. I never wanted this."

"I know. I told Lord Honey. But he will not release you."

"What choice does he have?" Kyouya asked.

"He will kill your friend if you die."

"I know," Kyouya muttered, his heart aching at the thought. To think he'd gone through all this for nothing... "Can I see him?"

The tall vampire was silent for a moment, then he stood and left the cell, the sound of the door slamming echoing in Kyouya's skull for several minutes afterwards. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips to his temples.

And then the door opened again and Tamaki was standing there. Un-death suited him, for he was radiant. His features were every bit as delicate as they'd been in life, perhaps even more so. He was so pale, but it just made his violet eyes stand out more, and he was smiling and the fangs fit into his mouth so well. And he was wearing a beautifully tailored suit of periwinkle blue that complemented his eyes and made him... beautiful. Kyouya abruptly realized his mouth was hanging open and he closed it quickly. Tamaki crossed the cell faster than Kyouya would have thought possible and threw his arms around him.

"Oh Kyouya," he gasped. "Lord Mori told me you were here, but they wouldn't let me see you! What's happened? What have you done now?"

Kyouya couldn't even speak. It was too much of a shock. But his hands finally snaked around Tamaki, holding the other boy close.

"Lord Mori isn't much for chatting, but I did figure out that you made some kind of crazy bargain with the clan leader, Lord Honey... and that you're not fulfilling your part," Tamaki said, leaning back to look Kyouya in the eye. When Kyouya tried to avoid looking at him, Tamaki grabbed his face with both hands, lifting his head so they could look at each other. "Kyouya... please... talk to me."

Kyouya gulped. "Tamaki... you were dying."

Tamaki nodded. "I remember. But... why? Why did you do this?"

"I couldn't let you die. This was the plan... with the best chance of success," Kyouya finally decided.

Tamaki shook his head. "What did I ever do to deserve your friendship?" he asked, sounding almost awed. Then he became serious again. "Kyouya, I've been around the castle. You really wouldn't believe this place. It's wonderful."

"Somehow I suspected that vampire life would suit you," Kyouya said calmly.

Tamaki frowned. "Were you not planning on joining me here? Is that what this is about?"

"I had not intended to become a vampire, no," Kyouya agreed, opting to skirt the issue of binding himself to Tamaki since that was no longer an option. "But Lord Honey insisted that he would not save you unless he turned me as well."

"And, as usual, you put my happiness and my life ahead of your own..." Tamaki sighed. "Oh Kyouya... Why do you keep doing these things? I will never be able to pay back the debt I owe you?"

"You made my life worth living. You owe me nothing," Kyouya insisted.

"Yes I do," Tamaki protested. "And I don't really know where to begin... But I think I have an idea..." And he brushed his lips over Kyouya's forehead.

Kyouya closed his eyes. Tamaki had done this a hundred times before, as a gesture of affection and friendship. It felt so different now. His lips were so cold, no longer warm and vibrant. Being a vampire simply wasn't the same, and he'd lost this beautiful golden prince forever. He was dimly aware that Tamaki's fingers were tangling themselves in his hair, and thought he heard a soft metallic _clink_ nearby.

But then Tamaki's fingertips were under his chin, lifting his head, and their lips met for the first time and Kyouya simply could not think anymore because even though both of them were ice-cold, it was electric. But somewhere behind Tamaki's lips was warmth, and Kyouya's tongue prodded lightly at the blonde's lips, pleading for entrance. And then Tamaki's tongue was forcing its way into his mouth, and he was content to let that happen, to be dominated, because there was such a welcoming warmth washing over him and down his throat and... and that was the taste of copper. Kyouya began to cough, but Tamaki's hand tightened on his shoulder, holding him in place and Kyouya didn't have the strength to fight back...

And when they broke apart, Kyouya finally saw the empty goblet on the floor and tasted the blood properly in his mouth and saw the smug smile on Tamaki's face. And part of him wanted to retch, to remove that taste... but he could still taste Tamaki, and that would almost certainly never happen again, and he couldn't bring himself to kill that taste, so he took several deep breaths and managed to endure until the sick feeling had passed.

Tamaki settled himself on the floor next to Kyouya and put his arms around the dark-haired boy. "Sorry for taking advantage of you like that... but it worked. I couldn't let you die either. We have eternity now... I don't want eternity if I don't have you by my side."

Kyouya said nothing. His heart still ached. They could have had so much more... But Tamaki was, as usual, oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil.

"You know, we'll basically live forever now. Not much can kill a vampire. So you need to promise me you'll stop doing stupid things like this to protect me... From now on, we'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder, okay?"

"Okay," Kyouya agreed, because it was the best he could do.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Good," Tamaki said, standing and pulling Kyouya up with him. Kyouya staggered a little, still weakened, but Tamaki supported him easily, and they left the cell together to face their new home in the vampire castle of Clan Ouran.

* * *

A/N: So this story took a random dark turn… Um… Yeah. No words. Apparently I just felt like writing some dark shit. Although let's be honest... every single fic I'm working on right now is dark as fuck.

I know this chapter was a little short, but I was happy with where it ended. The twins will be in the next chapter, yay! But first... I really need to update To Have and To Hold... that's next on the list!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry this took so long to write. First I wanted to update all my stories, then I got on a major roll with Someone To Lean On (blame Tumblr… I joined that and then I got sucked in by the Chulu hashtag and I emerged with stars in my eyes and a desperate desire to write for that pairing…), and then my friend made me watch Witch Hunter Robin and all I can think of now is Michael… he is sooooo sexy! And Amon is such a massive dick… And there are not enough Michael/Robin fics in this world… I am going to fix that. Bwahahahaha! Anyways, the point is, I ran into many distractions, and for that I am sorry. But I got back on track, and had some fun with this chapter. I'm so evil.

Disclaimer: Don't own Ouran Host Club or the characters, unless they're random OC's I invented.

* * *

Once Tamaki practically forced Kyouya to accept his transformation, life became at least a little easier in the vampire castle. As Lord Honey had promised when he'd transformed Kyouya, he gave the fledgling vampire a number of responsibilities almost immediately. And much to Kyouya's surprise, Tamaki proved invaluable.

The blonde prince took to vampirism like a duck to water. Although he had always professed to despise court life, he was certainly good at mingling with other vampires, learning about alliances and rivalries while creating none for himself. It was in this way that Tamaki managed to endear himself to Lord Honey.

Lord Honey was a rather solitary ruler, trusting no one with the organization of his clan besides his cousin, Lord Mori. But as the clan expanded and battled for territory, it was plain that he couldn't keep up with all the work required… hence his eagerness to turn Kyouya and make him part of the clan.

But essentially running a vampire clan from behind the scenes turned out to be the easy part. Kyouya continued to struggle with his new powers, the troubling thirst for blood, and the strange urges and sensations that were a natural product of being an undead creature.

The first time he'd seen one of the human slaves with the mark on her wrist indicating that she was fair game for anyone who wanted to partake, Kyouya had nearly been ill. But Tamaki… he had been interested almost immediately. Pinning the startled girl to the wall, Tamaki had proceeded to charm and seduce her until the poor thing was nearly undone beneath him. And when Tamaki had bitten into her wrist and the poor girl had actually moaned… well, the knowledge that vampire saliva was something of an aphrodisiac to humans was interesting to say the least.

Tamaki took after Lord Honey. Both light-haired vampires enjoyed seducing their pray, taking only what they needed, and then casting them aside. Sex and food were almost inextricably linked for the pair, and the first time Kyouya saw Tamaki bending a MALE servant over a table, he'd seriously considered impaling himself on a wooden stake. The only facts that stopped him were that he was reasonably certain that this would not kill him (vampires seemed to truly enjoy spreading misinformation about themselves to unsuspecting humans), and the fear that Lord Honey would take his wrath out on Tamaki if Kyouya did manage to kill himself.

Kyouya, on the other hand, followed in Mori's footsteps. Both vampires preferred to consume their blood from goblets filled in separate locations… they tended not to attack living victims. Kyouya was still slightly squeamish about the whole thing, but he had another reason…

Only a year after Kyouya and Tamaki were turned, they went with Mori and Honey to attack a small village for "fresh meat" as Honey put it. Tamaki did not enjoy that expedition… Honey enjoyed himself thoroughly though, as he was able to kill several humans. Mori also killed several humans with very little effort, draining their blood in a furious red-eyed feeding frenzy that nearly petrified Kyouya. But when a young man attacked him with a cross, Kyouya had been compelled to defend himself.

The claws were useful in battle, Kyouya was pleased to discover. And his vampire strength and speed were also helpful. And as he pinned his helpless prey to the ground, Kyouya instinctively bit down hard upon the struggling man's neck.

It was shocking natural. And something about tasting the fresh blood, straight from the source, drove Kyouya into a frenzy of red mist and foggy shapes… When he came back to himself, he discovered that he had drained the man completely of blood, and had attacked several other humans in his frenzy. And in that moment, he understood how dangerous it could be to have a human servant, and he thought he understood why Mori didn't have one. In fact, none of the four had a human servant. Honey muttered vaguely that he'd had one once, but she was gone now.

It alarmed Kyouya though… the change that came over him when he consumed fresh blood. In that moment, the world ceased to exist and he was a mindless animal, driven by a desire to kill. He suspected that Mori had similar inclinations, and although he never asked the tall vampire for help, Kyouya found himself observing him and mimicking the steps he took to ensure he did not destroy too many innocent lives.

Kyouya quickly learned that these little forays into villages were more than seeking out food… it was Lord Honey's way of 'leveling up' his inner circle, so to speak. Another intriguing vampire trait was that taking lives and consuming fresh blood seemed to enhance vampire powers while consuming the blood from the goblets did little besides sustain them. And since Mori and Kyouya could not consume blood from human servants without killing them… This was Honey's way of making sure that the vampires he surrounded himself with were the most powerful in all of Clan Ouran.

Kyouya was hunched over a mound of parchment in the comfortable room where he had spent most of his time during the last twenty-five years he'd been a vampire. It was a very private room, only accessed by Honey, Mori, Tamaki, and himself. It was also a very nice room, with large windows, many bookshelves, and comfortable couches, though Kyouya spent most of his time at a desk doing paperwork. He took his job seriously; after all, it would not do to jeopardize Tamaki's safety.

Speak of the devil… Tamaki practically danced into the room, his white-blonde hair glowing in the candlelight and his smile lighting up the room, even if there was a faint red coloring on his lips. "Good evening, Kyouya!" he practically sang.

Kyouya's eyes flicked towards him for a moment. "You might consider fixing your trousers," was all he said.

Tamaki glanced down at his rather rumpled periwinkle blue pants and shirt. "Oh bother…" he muttered, making the necessary adjustments to make himself presentable once again. "Good thing you're the only one who saw me," he added with a winning smile.

Kyouya made an irritated and noncommittal noise. Tamaki frowned and crossed the room in the blink of an eye, wrapping his arms around Kyouya's slender shoulders and leaning over to look at what was on the desk. "Paperwork again? Kyouyaaaaaaa…" he whined

"It won't complete itself," Kyouya said, adjusting his glasses and waiting for the blonde to release him.

"But you need to put it away!" Tamaki exclaimed. "I have news, and I bet Lord Honey is going to like it!"

"More hunting?" Kyouya asked, sounding bored. Was this really all he had to look forward to? If he'd remained alive, he could have also looked forward to managing an estate and hunting in his idle time… Of course, Tamaki would not be around if that were the case… He sighed.

"Yep!" Tamaki exclaimed eagerly. "And it's in the southlands!"

Kyouya frowned. "We aren't permitted to hunt in the southlands, remember? It was part of that treaty I spent so many months working on…" He rubbed his forehead with two fingertips. It gave him a headache just thinking about that.

"No, you'll love this! They WANT us to come and hunt!" Tamaki exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Now I know you're mistaken," Kyouya said. "No one actually wants vampires on their lands."

The door behind them swung open and Lord Honey and Lord Mori both entered. Tamaki and Kyouya quickly bowed to their elders, then Kyouya resumed his seat while Tamaki spoke to the leader.

"My lord, one of the lords from the southlands has invited members of our clan to hunt in his lands tonight."

"And who, pray, does he want us to hunt?" their leader asked. If was still a bit disconcerting to watch a child (who had really been in his early 20's when he'd been turned, but still… he looked younger than ten…) talk so casually of killing and hunting.

Tamaki couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Apparently there is a small caravan of gypsies causing trouble The lord who requested us wants them gone."

"Gypsies, eh?" Lord Honey mused. "As long as he pays us well for our… services… I suppose we can oblige him and clear out the pests.

Since there were supposed to be around two hundred gypsies in the caravan, the whole clan would be hunting that night. As the sun went down, Kyouya found himself at Lord Honey's side with the rest. The castle doors opened, revealing the dark night and the slender half-moon above them, a perfect night for hunting.

Lord Honey led the way as usual, and it didn't take long for the vampires to have the caravan surrounded. On their lordship's signal, they attacked.

It was chaos. Everywhere, there were screaming humans, desperately fleeing the carnage. Mothers clung to their children, trying to shield them from the attackers. Men and women alike tried to fight off the vampires, but there was nothing they could do… they were overwhelmed by the strength of the vampires.

Several young adults were subdued and restrained… they would be taken back to the castle as prisoners, to either become human servants or be drained to fill the goblets of those who could not (or would not) partake of the servants.

Kyouya entered his frenzy almost at once, destroyed several humans to slake his hunger. But when he came back to himself, the battle still raged. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Kyouya slithered into the shadows, observing the battle techniques of the other vampires as well as the attempts by the humans to defend themselves. Any data he could collect would be invaluable when planning future attacks.

Hearing a commotion, Kyouya decided to investigate. He found four vampires who had cornered two young male humans. The boys, identical down to the last bright red hair, were clearly exhausted, but still clinging to their weapons, spears of some sort, with long wooden handles and sharp silver points on one end. It looked like the vampires would make short work of the boys, but when one charged… the result was impressive. The first boy moved forward, stabbing the vampire hard in the center of his chest, managing to pierce the heart. The vampire shrieked and fell to the ground, succumbing to one of the few weaknesses of vampires available to humans. Another vampire flew in from above at the boy's exposed back, but his twin stabbed upwards, catching that vampire in the heart as well.

Kyouya was stunned. It was unheard of for any but the most skilled fighters and hunters to kill even a single vampire, yet these two boys had killed two. The boys were panting, exhausted from their efforts. The remaining two vampires were watching them with considerably more wariness than before. Kyouya cleared his throat behind them. The vampires and the boys actually jumped at the soft noise.

"Do not kill them," Kyouya said softly, his slate-gray eyes locked on the twins.

"Milord…" one of the vampires stammered. "But why? They killed two of our clan…"

"Are you questioning me?" Kyouya asked, his voice low and dangerous.

They shook their heads, but still looked uncertain.

A soft thumping noise next to Kyouya made his eyes flick to the side, though he never turned his head. Sure enough, Tamaki was crouched next to him, where he'd landed after jumping from the top of one of the wagons. The handsome blonde straightened up to his full height, then put his hand on Kyouya's shoulder.

"Are you questioning a clan leader? I don't think Lord Honey will take kindly to your insubordination."

The low-level vampires stared, then finally bowed to their superiors. More prepared this time, they were able to relieve the twins of their weapons and then it was a simple matter to knock them out and bind them. Leaving the other vampires to their work, Kyouya and Tamaki began walking through the caravan, winding their way around burning wagons and limp bodies, searching for Lord Honey.

"Thank you, by the way," Kyouya said as they walked.

"For what?" Tamaki asked, matching his friend's pace exactly.

"For backing me up… You didn't even question me."

"Kyouya, when have I ever questioned anything you did?" Tamaki asked. "You're my best friend, and I trust you completely. I know you have your reasons. And those two needed a lesson in manners anyways."

Kyouya cast a quick sideways glance at the glamorous vampire next to him and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

* * *

A/N: Why do I keep doing this? I didn't get nearly as far as I'd planned with this chapter… I got so distracted with detailing other stuff… I hope it was still interesting to read, I thought everything I included was relevant. I guess I just keep underestimating how long getting through certain parts will take… Anyways, so I pretty much know what the next chapter will hold, so hopefully I'll write it pretty quickly. Of course, after that… I'm not really sure. We'll have to see. And I'm sure you have NO IDEA who the redheaded twins are, right? Hehehe…

Oops, Someone to Lean On is pulling me back in… (gets dragged away into the Star Trek universe) Sorry! My obsessions are very demanding little buggers!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A/N: I… have got to stop writing chapters really late at night. I do that… a lot. I'll be like "I'm really tired and I should go to bed" and then my muse will be like "no, forget that, sit your ass down and hammer out a chapter" and I'll be like "I can't even see straight, it's fucking 3am you stupid fucking muse!" and my muse will be like "bitch, unless you want to NEVER see me again, you will do as I command" and if I don't listen, my muse abandons me for WEEKS or MONTHS and no one wants that, but then I end up with some insane incoherent mess that takes me like an entire day to edit into something coherent, but it usually works because at least I get everything into a document… editing is the easy part. And that was the longest sentence EVER and I suddenly feel really accomplished. Because I'm a complete dork. Why did I write this author's note? For the same reason I write all of my author's notes, which is… no reason whatsoever. Mwahahaha. (Yeah, I just totally used the same author's note in Someone to Lean On, but it's seriously how I'm feeling right now… It's like freaking 3am, what the hell am I doing writing at this hour anyways?)

Disclaimer: Don't own Ouran Host Club, only my cool little universe.

* * *

The hunt had been successful. Twenty-three captives had been taken, and every vampire in the clan had taken their fill of blood. They drifted back to the castle and retired to sleep away their excess.

Kyouya, though he'd certainly taken his fill, had never been one for sleeping the day away. Although there were a few vampires, including (rather strangely, in his opinion) Lord Honey, who slept from the moment the sun rose until the moment it set, most of the vampires did spend at least a few daylight hours awake. Kyouya was one of them, sometimes sleeping as little as three hours a day before restlessly roaming the castle or working on paperwork in his room or in the private suite where the rest of the leaders gathered. He knew Lord Mori also spent little time asleep, but the tall vampire's activities were a mystery to Kyouya… for now.

On this particular day, Kyouya indulged in a very pleasant seven-hour nap before rising and working on paperwork. His room was a rather extravagant one, even more luxurious than the ones he had occupied as a human. The large bed was really far more than he needed, and he tended to feel lost in the ridiculous thing. He often slept on the couch instead, for it was rather plush and he didn't feel adrift there. And the nice little table and chairs made for a cozy workspace, even if he couldn't often take advantage of looking out the window unless he wanted the sun to scorch him. But soon even paperwork couldn't stop him from feeling restless, and he found himself wandering down to the dungeons.

There was a considerable amount of noise down in the dungeons, though the humans guarding the cells made no move to quiet the captives. They bowed in deference to Kyouya, moving swiftly aside to let him pass. The women's cell was noisy as they cried and wailed, lamenting their tragic fate. Kyouya couldn't help but smile. There were some accomplished rogues living upstairs… doubtless more than half of these girls would succumb to someone's charms.

The men's cell… now that was a different story. Though he heard a few bemoaning their fate or the loss of loved ones, he could hear more anger from this cell. An argument was brewing. There was a small opening near the top of the door that guards could peek in to check on captives, and Kyouya used that now, watching the prisoners without being observed.

There were the twin boys he'd ordered brought in. They had been backed into a corner and were ringed by eight other young men, obviously furious.

"It's your fault we were attacked, you know!" one of the men was shouting. "Cursed brats like you should have been drowned in the river the moment you were born!"

One of the boys practically hissed in anger. "I fail to see how a freaking vampire attack is our fault," he snapped. "Did you see how many vampires there were?"

"Yeah, they wiped out basically the entire caravan because of you bastards," the gypsy shouted, grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt and dragging him forward.

His twin sprang forward and hit the man hard just below his eye, but he was grabbed and restrained by three gypsies. His arms were wrenched hard behind his back, and the boy uttered a short scream of agony.

The first boy who had been grabbed spat on his captor's face and kicked him, wrenching his way free. Seeing his brother being held, he screamed "Kaoru!" and tried to fight his way over, but his twin was dragged away and soon all of them were fighting, kicking, punching, biting, screaming, shouting…

Kyouya shook his head. It was past time to break this up. Selecting a key from the ring he carried, he unlocked the cell. Instantly a pair of human guards was behind him, ready to step in if anyone tried to escape or harm their vampire master.

Kyouya cut an imposing figure, dressed in form-fitting black clothing with only a simple light-blue trim at the collar of his shirt to break up the pure black color, which contrasted deliciously with his deathly-pale white skin. Several of the gypsies froze instantly when they saw him. One gypsy continued to grapple with the redheaded boy while another continued to hold his twin's arms behind his back. Hearing the uneasy silence, the combatants slowly stopped their tussling and faced the impassive vampire watching them.

Kyouya took a few more steps forward, grabbing the gypsy that had started the confrontation, and hurling him into the farthest wall with no more effort than a normal human might throw a pillow. The man crumpled, but he was only incapacitated, not permanently injured. Kyouya did the same to the man restraining the other twin, the one apparently called Kaoru. As he threw the gypsy aside, he noticed the redheaded boy drop to his knees, clutching at his arm with a soft whimper.

"Kaoru!" exclaimed the first redheaded twin, springing forward and wrapping his arms around his brother. He looked up at Kyouya, and appeared to be about to shout at the vampire, but one look at Kyouya's face convinced him that this was a bad idea. Kyouya simply grabbed the collars of both twins and dragged them from the cell, leading them to a different cell instead.

This cell was smaller than the one they'd been in, a simple dark room with only a cot and a thin blanket in the room. He dumped the boys unceremoniously on the cot, clasped his hands behind his back, and waited for them to speak.

Daring a quick glance at the silent vampire, the uninjured twin decided to attend to his brother first. "Kaoru, are you okay? How badly did they hurt you?" he asked, not quite touching the injured arm. Instead he caught his brother's chin with his fingertip, lifting his brother's head up to look into his eyes.

"I'm fine, Hikaru, honest…" the other boy said, though the tears gathered in the corners of his amber eyes made it clear that this was a lie. "They just twisted my arm a little… aghh…" he grunted as he tried to move the arm and nearly doubled over in pain.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru exclaimed fiercely. He shot a nervous glance in Kyouya's direction. Putting his lips up to his brother's ear, he whispered, "Pull yourself together… the vampire's still here. Don't show weakness, remember?"

Kyouya didn't even blink, giving no sign that he could hear every word. Instead he studied the pair. Unlike most gypsies, who tended to be dark-skinned or tan, tall and muscular with dark hair and dark eyes, these boys were slender and delicate youths, with pale white skin, tousled red hair, and intelligent amber eyes. He wondered vaguely what such boys were doing in the company of gypsies.

Kaoru looked up, finally registering that Kyouya was standing there. "Wait, I remember you…" he said suddenly.

Hikaru elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't…" he began.

But Kaoru plowed on ahead, rather bravely really. "You're the one who told those vampires not to kill us even though we actually managed to kill some vampires."

Hikaru's head snapped up and he really looked at Kyouya for the first time. "Hey, yeah…" he muttered. "Kaoru, you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Kaoru said. "It's definitely him. Does that mean we owe your our lives or something? Is there some weird vampire ritual we have to go through now?"

Kyouya couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching into something resembling a smile for just a moment before he managed to school his face back into neutrality. There was something oddly… refreshing… about these boys. "No rituals. And your gratitude may be premature. Survival is never guaranteed in a vampire castle."

Hikaru practically snarled and put a protective arm around his injured brother. Kaoru winced a little, but tried to keep up a brave face. Kyouya's expression softened a fraction.

"Let me see your arm," he said.

"You stay away from him," Hikaru growled.

Kyouya lifted an eyebrow, amusement creeping into his tone. "I fed well enough yesterday," he said dryly, "so I'm not interested in taking advantage of his weakened state. He has no open wounds either, so there is no blood to drive me into a frenzy. I assure you, he's perfectly safe."

"Excuse me if I don't believe you," Hikaru hissed between clenched teeth.

"Perfectly understandable. How about this… if you don't move and allow me to examine his injury, I will pick you up and throw you against that wall over there to keep you out of the way. I guarantee it won't feel pleasant."

Hikaru looked startled. Kaoru gently pushed at his brother with his uninjured arm. "Hikaru, it's okay… Let him look."

"But…" Hikaru stammered, struggling to come up with an excuse.

"I don't want to see you hurt," Kaoru said softly. "I… I don't think he'll hurt me."

"He's a vampire…" Hikaru reminded him sternly.

"But… if he wanted to kill either of us… He's had plenty of opportunity. This isn't like back at camp. We're alone and unarmed. He could have eaten both of us already," Kaoru pointed out sensibly.

Kyouya dipped his head so that the feeble light in the cell flashed off his glasses, hiding whatever emotion may have lurked in his cool gray eyes. Hikaru gulped, then finally scooted away from his twin, allowing Kyouya to approach. Kyouya did so, his footsteps making no sound on the stone floor. He extended a single white hand, and Kaoru hesitantly removed his uninjured hand from his arm, lifting it slightly for examination. Kyouya paused, studying the boy's amber eyes. They were nervous, certainly… but strangely trusting. He found himself hesitating.

"You could have left us with the rest of the group," Kaoru said suddenly. "We wouldn't have lasted long in there, especially with me injured. That's twice you've spared our lives."

The unspoken question of why Kyouya had done such a thing lingered in the air between them. Kyouya ignored it in favor of gently taking the injured arm, prodding and moving it as carefully as he could. Finally he lifted his head.

"Your elbow is dislocated. It isn't particularly serious. I can set it for you, but it will be painful."

Kaoru bit his lower lip. Rather than answering, he suddenly said, "What's your name?"

Kyouya blinked. "Why are you asking that now?"

"Because I want to know," Kaoru said with a slight shrug, followed immediately by a wince.

Choosing for the moment to ignore the question, Kyouya got a firm grip on the injured elbow. "This will hurt," he warned again, "but it's the quickest way to fix you up."

Kaoru just nodded, and he yelped as Kyouya quickly and efficiently shoved the dislocated elbow back into place. Hikaru straightened up in alarm, but Kaoru waved him down as he tested the elbow.

"It still hurts," he said, nibbling on his lower lip some more, "but not as much."

"Don't move it around too much," Kyouya said to him as he straightened up. "I will go and fetch some bandages. Keeping it immobile will make sure it heals faster and doesn't undo what I just did."

"Oh… okay… Thanks," Kaoru said.

Kyouya turned and started to walk out of the cell. At the doorway he paused. Without turning to face the boys, he said suddenly. "Kyouya."

"Huh?" the boys asked in unison. Hikaru had already reclaimed his place next to his brother and was examining his twin's arm for himself.

"My name," Kyouya clarified. "My name is Kyouya Ootori." And before either boy could react, he stepped out, closing the cell door behind him.

* * *

A/N: Well… that was fun. More fun than I expected actually. A little short, but… I got near the ending and I was like 'that's the perfect ending to this chapter' and so I stopped. I can do that. Mwahaha.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A/N: For once, I have nothing of importance to say. Actually, I never have anything of importance to say. I just can't think of anything right now. Eh, no matter… Enjoy this rather short chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own OHC, but do own this awesome little universe. Also seriously thinking of patenting the concept of "Kyouya's romance is doomed" because that's like my favorite thing, bwahaha!

* * *

Kyouya could not understand what it was about those redheaded twins that fascinated him so much. He had returned within the hour with bandages, as well as some water and food for the underfed boys. Hikaru had put his foot down, insisting on bandaging his brother's arm himself, and Kyouya had decided it was easier to acquiesce than to battle the stubborn boy again. So he leaned against the wall near the door, watching as Hikaru carefully bandaged his twin's arm and fashioned a makeshift sling.

The whole time, Kaoru's soft amber eyes watched Kyouya's every move (not that he was moving around very much). It wasn't a hostile or suspicious stare, merely one filled with frank curiosity.

"So what's going to happen to us?" he asked at last. Hikaru glanced up as well, equally curious about their fates.

Kyouya thought about the best way to explain this to them. "There are only a few options open to you…" he said slowly.

"One of those options is probably death, right?" Hikaru said flatly.

Kyouya shrugged. "It's always a possibility when one is a living being in a vampire castle."

"Are there any options that… don't involve us being dead?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru gripped his brother's hand silently.

Kyouya regarded the boys carefully as he tried to decide how to explain their possible fates. They were both so skinny… dressed in such threadbare clothes that hung off their slender frames. Their life in their gypsy caravan had not been an easy one; that much was clear.

"Your other options both involved becoming servants to the vampire clan," he decided at last. "This entails giving blood freely, as well as obeying commands given by vampires."

"Sounds thrilling," Hikaru snapped. "So we just let ourselves get used and abused by your clan?"

"I said it's an option," Kyouya reminded him. "It's like being a regular servant for human nobility, with the addition that you have to feed your masters with your blood."

"But there's another option?" Kaoru asked, looking up at Kyouya with those huge innocent eyes.

Kyouya tried to think of the best way to explain the concept. "The other option is to find a vampire you are willing to pledge your life to. You would obey only their commands and they would be the only vampires to feed from you. In return, they'd protect you and make sure you're taken care of."

Kaoru's head tilted to one side. "Is that common?"

"It's common enough, I suppose," Kyouya said. "It's not rare, if that's what you mean. If you make a good impression, I'm sure you could find a vampire willing to bind you to them."

"I'm not seeing the benefits," Hikaru muttered.

Kyouya shrugged. "That's not my problem. You wanted the options. There they are."

"Well… do the… um… Do those… partnerships… usually work?" Kaoru asked.

Kyouya shrugged again. "I wouldn't know. I'm not close to any of the vampires that have human mates."

"Does it seem beneficial? Is it something you've ever thought about doing?" Kaoru asked, and Kyouya tried to figure out if he was only asking because he was curious about his options.

"No. I have not considered it."

"Why not? Do you… just not want to have a human depending on you? Or…"

Kyouya shook his head. "Nothing like that. I simply don't feed on living humans."

The twins exchanged glances.

"I kill," Kyouya said bluntly, and he was certain that his eyes had glowed red for a moment because both boys suddenly looked alarmed. "I cannot control myself around blood. It would not be safe for me to feed on a human who wishes to remain alive. I cannot have a human mate because they would die."

The twins exchanged glances again, more nervous this time. Hikaru tightened his grip on his brother's shoulder.

"So what's going to happen to us?" Hikaru asked.

"Eventually you'll be cleaned up and presented to the clan. You will have a few days to make an impression on the vampires living in this castle. In a few days, you'll know. I don't know how long you'll stay here though. We have never had so many captives at one time, and considering what I saw earlier…"

Neither twin met his eyes. Kyouya hadn't really expected them to.

"Now, if you will excuse me… I am expected to meet with the clan elder shortly." Kyouya straightened up, straightening elegant black clothes almost unconsciously. Neither of the twins spoke as he left the cell.

Kyouya was lost in thought as he walked through the castle. Vampires slid out of his way without him having to so much as glance at them. Being a favorite of the clan elder certainly had its advantages.

"Kyouya!" Tamaki shouted as Kyouya entered the suite that the inner circle gathered in. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for hours!" The handsome blonde was pouting and Kyouya rolled his eyes.

"I was checking up on the captive gypsies."

"You must have been down there for ages then," Tamaki said, violet eyes suddenly shrewd. "Were there problems down there?"

"You might say that. Those redheaded twins were attacked by their fellow captives."

"Well that's odd…" Tamaki mused.

"Indeed. In fact, they seemed to blame the boys for our attack."

"Now that's really weird," Tamaki said as he sprawled on the couch. Kyouya sat down at one end, and frowned when Tamaki put his feet on his lap.

"Kindly remove your feet from my person," Kyouya nearly growled.

"Ah, relax… You're so serious," Tamaki said, sticking out his tongue rather childishly.

Kyouya scowled and glared down at the offending feet.

Tamaki propped himself up on his elbows. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kyouya said fiercely.

"Don't lie to me, we've known each other too long," Tamaki said sternly. "I know I can be annoying, but you never get mad at me for it… ever. So what's on your mind?"

Kyouya opened his mouth, though he wasn't sure whether it was to spill his guts or berate Tamaki for his impertinence, but it didn't matter because Lord Honey and Lord Mori entered the room at that moment.

"So tomorrow, we'll bring out the female captives and let them start to mingle. Then we'll have the male captives come out the next night," the child-like vampire was saying, his tone surprisingly businesslike. "Hopefully we can manage to hang on to a few servants this time." But the way he was licking his lips suggested to Kyouya that their lord had plans that would be detrimental to the health of at least one unfortunate human.

"Excellent plan, my lord," Kyouya said, reaching out for some nearby parchment and making notes on the arrangements that would have to be made.

"Yeah, we'll have some grand old parties!" Tamaki said cheerfully.

The corner of Honey's mouth twitched, but he remained serious. "Make sure that everything is ready, Kyouya. We want to impress these impoverished humans with our power and wealth… and encourage them to hang on to their lives and stay with us."

"Of course, my lord," Kyouya said, inclining his head slightly.

Lord Honey nodded and went to look over the paperwork that Kyouya had left for him to approve. Kyouya glared at Tamaki's feet again.

"Tamaki…"

"Ugh, fine!" Tamaki snapped. "You're such a pain, you know that?" he added, an oddly sweet smile gracing his lips for a moment. He sat up, tucking those long legs underneath his body.

Kyouya went back to making notes, vaguely noticing that Tamaki was still shuffling around and making noises. But he didn't really pay any attention, so he was rather taken aback when a weight descended on his lap. He glanced down to see Tamaki's untidy mop of blonde hair spread across his lap, and those violet eyes gazing at him from under half-closed lids. Kyouya frowned.

"Now really, Tamaki…" he began.

"Come on, you need to forgive me!" Tamaki whined.

"You're fussing over nothing," Kyouya grumbled. "I'm not even mad of you."

"Prove it."

"How?" Kyouya asked, almost dreading the answer.

Mori coughed discretely. Kyouya's head jerked up and he saw Mori glancing away from them, and then he saw Honey positively glaring at them. If he'd still been among the living, Kyouya was certain he would have blushed.

"Perhaps you should find some servants, if you're having… urges," Honey practically spat out.

Tamaki's eyes widened and he sat up so fast that he nearly knocked Kyouya's glasses off his face. "What are you talking about, my lord?" he exclaimed.

Kyouya just closed his eyes, trying to hide his irritation.

"I mean, the servants are great and everything," Tamaki continued, "but they don't KNOW ME, you know, like Kyouya does."

Honey just stared.

Kyouya pressed his fingertips to his forehead. "Tamaki…"

"Well, it's true! I mean, you know everything about me! We've known each other since we were kids! We're close to each other in a way that I could never be with a mere servant," he said with a disdainful sniff. "I mean, it's just a different sort of intimacy…"

"Tamaki, just stop talking…" Kyouya muttered under his breath, though he knew none of the vampires would have any trouble hearing him.

Tamaki looked confused for a minute, then something resembling comprehension appeared. "Oh! Oh! No!" he exclaimed, looking alarmed.

Kyouya stomped down any hurt that he might be feeling over that reaction. After all, it wasn't as though they could have a relationship anyways.

But as Tamaki continued to ramble and rant, Mori and Honey gradually stopped paying attention, and Kyouya found his own thoughts wandering to the upcoming balls. They were certain to be eventful, he was sure of that.

* * *

A/N: Blah, not sure I like this chapter… it was hard to write… Next chapter will be better. That one's gonna be fun, mwahaha! Though… I love clueless Tamaki… Poor Kyouya.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: Why are all the really good country songs about break-ups? Thank goodness my fiancé loves country music as much as I do or he might get really worried when I wander around the house singing these songs about breaking up and heartbreak and kicking men to the curb… Hehehe I love messing with his head. Yeah, I'm evil in real life too… It's probably not a good thing.

I'm sorry this chapter is so late. I pretty much knew what I wanted to write for this one, but I was kind of avoiding this fic because I'm still struggling with this thing for Tamaki and the little bastard isn't cooperating… In my head, he's all like "but I wanna get with Kyouya" and I'm like "you can't get with Kyouya, it's the rules! You're both vampires, remember?" and he's like "but I don't care, I love him!" and I'm like "I don't care, you're supposed to love Hikaru!" and he's like "Nooooo, I love Kyouya" and I'm like "FUCK YOU TAMAKI, WHY WON'T YOU DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD? I'M GOING TO STRING YOU UP BY YOUR ENTRAILS!" and then Kyouya orders his police force to beat me to death for threatening Tamaki… My head is a violent place.

So I was mad at Tamaki for stuff that he won't do in this fic and I just didn't feel like writing it while I was mad. Actually, I'm still pretty mad, but in a way that is allowing me to write. Just go with it. Anyways, y'all can thank the delightful sapphireanguill for throwing Tamaki onto the Eiffel Tower for me after listening to me complain about how much of a pain he was being for days and days. So he's up there being tormented by her, Kyouya's in New Zealand following a false trail, and I'm waiting for the Ootori police force to come bursting in for the crime of tricking Kyouya… But as long as I get this chapter posted first, it's all good! But seriously, please thank, you should all thank sapphireanguill because without her encouragement, I might have taken even LONGER to write this chapter of evil… but now I'm back on track and maybe I can actually write quickly… except Star Trek will probably distract me again. Ah well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, or even the idea of making them vampires, but I do own this universe and the rules I made up for it.

* * *

Kyouya avoided as much of the large parties as he was able to, floating around the periphery and keeping a casual eye on Lord Honey and on all the vampires and humans. Tamaki was supposed be helping him, but that boy was probably off chasing a nice piece of tail… and Lord Mori was only really interested in watching over Lord Honey. This left Kyouya in the unenviable position of supervising a number of licentious vampires and humans. The humans especially were watched to make sure that none of them escaped… after all, it wouldn't do to have humans raising the alarm about a vampire castle… then a posse would be formed with torches and pitchforks… And this would force the clan to massacre everyone involved before relocating, and finding another castle of this caliber… well, Kyouya had enough paperwork to deal with.

So Kyouya didn't participate in the festivities, and he had ample opportunity to observe the redheaded twins. They had cleaned up well, dressed in identical periwinkle blue pants and shirts like the other captive human males. Kaoru's arm was still bandaged up, and Hikaru never strayed from his brother's side. As Kyouya observed them, Kaoru turned his head, amber eyes resting on Kyouya for a long moment. He seemed undecided… but finally he took a half-step in Kyouya's direction. Kyouya thought about turning his head to discourage the boy's approach, but he couldn't seem to control his own body. Hikaru didn't notice his brother's departure, too wrapped up in glaring at several of the gypsies who had shared a cell with him earlier.

"Hey," Kaoru said, finally weaving his way to Kyouya's side.

"Hello," Kyouya said, giving him a quick nod. Kyouya was wearing his usual black, and leaning against the gilded white walls like a shadow. Kaoru stared appreciatively.

"You aren't much for mingling, are you?" Kaoru asked.

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

Kaoru just smiled innocently.

"Someone has to make sure everyone behaves around here," Kyouya said quietly.

"What about your clan's leader?" Kaoru asked.

"See that blonde boy over there eating cake?" Kyouya asked. Kaoru nodded. "That's Lord Honey."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "You're serious?"

"Yes. He's very powerful, and he can be extremely cruel when he wants to be. But he also likes to have a good time. I'm here so that he can do that without worrying about the clan."

"It must suck to be the adult around here," Kaoru tried to joke.

The corner of Kyouya's mouth twitched. "It's my job. And it suits me."

"How did you get turned into a vampire?" Kaoru asked him.

Kyouya felt his blank expressionless mask slide into place. "I don't remember most of it."

Kaoru blinked, tilting his head a little. "But… surely you remember who turned you… or why they turned you…"

Kyouya's expression never shifted as he gazed out at the dance floor. Tamaki was twirling a beautiful female vampire around, other couples moving out of their way as they floated around the room with their inhuman speed and grace. Hikaru was making his way towards them, his expression agitated. "Your brother is looking for you." Conversation closed.

Kaoru looked a little taken aback, but he waved to his brother and started walking away. "Later then, Kyouya."

Kyouya didn't respond.

Hikaru caught Kaoru, and he looked over his twin's shoulder at Kyouya, who wasn't looking at the boys, though he could hear every word they said. "Kaoru, what the hell were you doing? Don't you remember what he said about killing every human he fed on? Are you TRYING to get yourself killed?"

"Of course not," Kaoru said quietly.

"Then what are you doing hanging around him?"

"I don't know."

"That makes two of us…" Kyouya muttered under his breath.

The next day, Kyouya rose early, having slept a scant three hours. He consumed his customary goblet of blood, gagging on the cold unpleasant texture. The stuff was disgusting and nearly made him sick every time he drank it, but it was better than letting the hunger grow until he couldn't resist tearing some unfortunate human to shreds.

Kyouya was walking through the hallways with the vague plan of going to the library to pick up a book he needed for the latest round of paperwork when the coppery scent of blood hit his nostrils and made him freeze in his tracks. And then he heard a scream. And it was familiar… Before Kyouya quite knew what he was doing, he was running through the corridors of the castle, following the smell and sound.

Rounding a corner, Kyouya came to a perfectly-controlled stop. And he froze, staring at the scene laid out in front of him.

Kaoru was sprawled on the floor, surrounded by six vampires, three males and three females. One of the males had his claws extended, and Kaoru was bleeding from a wound in his arm, obviously held up in defense.

"I don't know how you and that damnable brother of yours managed it, but you killed my brother," the vampire was snarling, his voice low and shaking with barely-controlled rage. "I will have my revenge."

Kyouya remembered now… That vampire had been one of the ones that had been attacking the twins back at the camp. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting that the vampires involved in that fight might hold a grudge.

Kaoru uttered a soft whimper, but he sat up, then moved like lightning to kick the legs right out from under the vampire standing over him. It took the vampire by surprise, and he fell hard as Kaoru attempted to push himself to his feet. If he'd been alone with this vampire, he might have been able to make a run for it, but two of the female vampires grabbed him, their long claws sinking into his shoulders and upper arms as he yelped, face contorting in pain.

"How did you manage it?" another vampire shouted. "Humans NEVER kill vampires unless they're trained hunters, and you definitely aren't!"

Kaoru attempted to kick this vampire too, but the female vampires held him tightly. The male hit him hard across the face and Kaoru's head whipped to one side, several long scratches appearing on his face, vivid scarlet lines weeping rivulets of blood. The vampire snarled, his fangs becoming ominously visible.

"We won't get any answers from him," the vampire Kaoru had kicked snarled as he stood. "I say we just kill him and then go after his brother."

"Fine, kill him," the last male in the group said. "Make it quick. Someone's probably heard him screaming by now."

They had gotten that right at least. Kyouya didn't bother to think, letting his vampire instincts take over. He flew forward, striking the vampire about to tear into Kaoru, and sending him flying.

"You…" hissed the leader of the group, the one who had given the order to kill Kaoru. Immediately he dropped into a fighting crouch, moving towards Kyouya. "Lord Honey's little pet… I've wanted to take you down a peg since the day you arrived."

"I welcome the challenge," Kyouya snarled, letting his own fangs and claws appear.

"Punk little upstart," the other vampire snarled. He attacked Kyouya, who dodged easily, and dealt a painful blow to the back of his neck.

"You're underestimating me," he warned, his voice low and dangerous.

"I couldn't possibly underestimate you," the vampire hissed. "I've been a vampire for nearly as long as Lord Honey. You are an infant compared to me."

"And while you have lain around growing soft and fat, I have spent my quarter-century training and developing my skills," Kyouya informed him, resuming his fighting stance.

The vampire swooped in, his claws outstretched and aiming directly for Kyouya's face, but Kyouya shifted his weight, leaning back and kicking the surprised vampire in the chest, sending him flying. There was a shattering sound of glass being destroyed, and then there were screams and a horrible sizzling and popping sound. Kyouya had managed to kick an opponent right out a window.

"I warned him not to underestimate me," Kyouya said softly, taking a step back to avoid the ray of sunlight peeking in through the destroyed window. It had once been a lovely thing made of stained glass, dark enough to keep the sunlight out during the day… but now that the dark glass was gone, the sunlight came streaming in.

The other vampires were backing away from him rather nervously. Kyouya turned to face them properly, and he allowed his slate-gray eyes to glow red for a moment.

"Now, release the human and leave," he said, his voice low and deathly-calm. "Unless someone else wants to challenge me?"

With a howl of rage, the vampire that had wanted to kill Kaoru flew towards Kyouya, claws outstretched. Kyouya calmly reached out and grabbed the other vampire by the collar and hurled him out the window too. He cursed softly as a bit of sunlight touched his hand, creating a dark burn… it would heal, but slowly… By the time he looked up, the other vampires had dropped Kaoru and fled.

Kyouya knelt down next to Kaoru, his hands shaking slightly as the smell of blood washed over him. Using his vampire powers had been the most effective way to dispatch his opponents, but it used a lot of energy, and it had awakened his hunger with a vengeance. And the smell of the fresh hot blood still leaking from Kaoru's open wounds wasn't helping.

The boy was badly hurt, but still conscious. He tried to push himself upright and gave Kyouya a weak smile. "Third time… I really owe you."

"Don't thank me yet," Kyouya said grimly.

Kaoru didn't seem to hear him as he slumped over, finally losing himself in unconsciousness. Realizing there was no alternative, Kyouya scooped the boy up in his arms and carried him at a run back to his quarters. Luckily he didn't encounter any other vampires on his way.

Arriving in his room, Kyouya finally had a chance to really evaluate Kaoru's injuries once he'd laid the boy out on his bed. His shirt was partially shredded, and Kyouya removed the garment, tossing it carelessly aside. The boy had been beaten, and that was no joke with vampire strength. But as he began cleaning and bandaging the boy's injuries, Kyouya couldn't help but notice the myriad of old scars and injuries crisscrossing Kaoru's slender body. Whip marks, slash marks, old burns… so much abuse had been heaped on this young man. Kyouya realized his hands were shaking, but it didn't seem to be because of the blood anymore… he was actually angry.

But the smell of blood was still driving him crazy, so he hurriedly disposed of the bloody rags and shredded shirt. Leaving Kaoru's still form resting on the couch, Kyouya striped away the bloodied bedding and replaced it with fresh sheets. He left Kaoru on his bed to recover and continued to clean the room until there was not a single drop of blood left in the room, and only then did he feel himself relax and feel the hunger recede.

It was the first time he'd managed to exercise such self-control around a human… actually, it was the first time he'd really tried… the first time he'd even WANTED to try. Kyouya acknowledged the achievement before filing it away. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he had other things to take care of.

Although there had always been a lock on his bedchamber door, this was the first time Kyouya used it. He moved quickly down the hallway of the inner circle, entering the room where the clan elders met every evening.

Tamaki was already there, the handsome prince looking peaceful and relaxed after a day of resting off the night spent dancing and doing god only knew what else… Kyouya ignored him for the moment, moving to his desk and quickly sorting through the sheets of parchment. Tamaki sat up from where he'd been sprawled across a couch.

"Kyouya, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Kyouya, I told you… don't lie to me! I can tell when you lie."

Kyouya bit his lip as he found the sheets of parchment that were ready for Lord Honey's approval. But he said nothing. Tamaki waited. Kyouya began carefully rolling up incomplete paperwork to take back to his room to work on.

"Please extend my apologies to Lord Honey, but I won't be able to join you all this evening," Kyouya said, still not looking at Tamaki.

Tamaki crossed the room in what appeared to be a single stride, placing his hand firmly on Kyouya's shoulder and spinning him around. "Kyouya. Talk to me. Now."

Kyouya brushed the hand away gently, but Tamaki flipped his hand over and grabbed Kyouya's tightly. Kyouya stared at their clasped hands before finally meeting Tamaki's violet eyes. "Will you do something for me?" he asked.

"Anything," Tamaki promised.

"You know the redheaded twins?"

Tamaki nodded.

"Kaoru was injured this afternoon. He was attacked by several vampires."

Tamaki's eyes widened. "Do you need me to figure out who did it?"

"I have already dealt with the guilty party and I am tending to Kaoru's injuries. But I need you to find his brother and let him know that Kaoru is well."

"Should I bring him to your room?" Tamaki asked.

"I would prefer that you didn't," Kyouya admitted. "I don't think he likes or trusts me, especially where his brother is concerned."

Tamaki squeezed Kyouya's hand. "I'll go find him as soon as I speak with Lord Honey and Lord Mori, I promise. You can count on me."

Kyouya squeezed Tamaki's hand back. "I know I can." Then he turned and started for the door.

"Oh, and Kyouya?" Tamaki called after him.

Kyouya turned, one eyebrow arching expectantly.

Tamaki's smile was positively wicked. "Don't think I didn't notice that you're tending to Kaoru in your bedroom."

"Don't read too much into It," Kyouya said with a small frown.

Tamaki chuckled. "Whatever you say. Your secret's safe with me… for now."

Kyouya turned more fully to face Tamaki. "Whatever you're thinking, stop. You know that I can't feed on humans without killing them, so put it out of your head."

"Don't rule it out," Tamaki said. "Maybe you just need to find a human that you can't live without. Then you'll be able to control yourself around them. And maybe Kaoru's the one."

"Don't get your hopes up," Kyouya said, closing the door behind him with a resounding thud.

Tamaki just smiled at the closed door. "Oh Kyouya… you always say that others underestimate you… But you don't realize that you're just as guilty of underestimating yourself."

* * *

A/N: Well that was tremendously fun. Not quite what I was planning when I started the chapter (that scene between Tamaki and Kyouya came out of fucking NOWHERE), but I like how it turned out. Sometimes you just have to ride the waves that the muse throws at you. Hopefully I can hang onto the muse for a little longer and maybe I'll be able to write another chapter quickly!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A/N: Oh god, I'm listening to Kevin Lyttle while I write this and I'm dying over here… he has this voice that is just full of sex… It kind of reminds me of Enrique Iglesias's voice. They both have these incredibly sexy Latino accents and it's amazing. Seriously, go listen to Kevin Lyttle's Turn Me On, that or Call Me… Really, all of his songs are amazing, but those two are my favorites right now.

Also, I really need to stop listening to Icona Pop's song We Got the World, and also Girlfriend. I love them. I usually listen to Playlist dot com but they just changed their format to radio stations and that absolutely blows… so since I got a Gmail account not too long ago, I realized that means I technically have a YouTube, so I started making playlists there, and just wow… I have opened a whole new world… So… many… music… videos… o_O It's pretty cool though. Music inspires me.

On that note… I just found a video of Monochrome No Kiss (aka the opening theme of Black Butler) and it's SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL! Damnit… I love the hell out of that song… I think I'm gonna spend the rest of the night looking for more anime themes. Bonus points when they're in the original Japanese. Hopefully I can also manage to write in between searching for epic songs.

Disclaimer: Don't own Ouran Host Club, blah blah blah, etc. etc…. Also don't own the music videos I was talking about.

* * *

When Kyouya returned to his room, he found that Kaoru was still unconscious in his bed, so the vampire moved to the table and laid out his paperwork, ink, and quill pens. Then he opened the heavy drapes covering the large window, letting the thin silver light from the waning moon fall into the room. Lighting only a single candle, Kyouya settled down to work.

The castle came alive at night, and he could hear talking and laughter from the yard outside as the vampires took advantage of the nighttime. Kyouya didn't really resent the fact that it often seemed like he was the only vampire who did any real work, and there was a lot of work involved in keeping the clan running smoothly. He would never have been happy in an eternity given over to idle pleasures like most of these vampires had adopted.

He pushed his glasses further onto his nose, then paused to glance at the black burn marring his long white hand. It stung, but he made no move to bandage it up. Tilting his head back, he stared up at the ceiling, refreshingly blank… unlike his mind.

"What am I doing?" he asked the ceiling. "I shouldn't be encouraging this boy to follow me around. I'll only end up killing him."

But there was something so refreshing about Kaoru… Ever since he was a human child, Kyouya had been relatively isolated. Tamaki had been his only friend and companion growing up, and even being a vampire hadn't really changed his habits. He only barely counted Lord Honey and Lord Mori among his friends, and that was mostly because he interacted with them every evening as one of the few members of the privileged inner circle. Kyouya would have been lying to himself if he'd tried to say he didn't still resent Lord Honey and his cruelty, but it wasn't bad enough to antagonize the young lord by shunning him. And Lord Mori wasn't a bad sort, just very quiet. And the other vampires gave him a wide berth, out of either fear or disgust… So Kaoru's obvious interest in spending time with him was… different. And strangely welcome. Which was bad. Very bad.

Kyouya blinked, coming out of his thoughts to realize that the night had passed him by and the sun was beginning to peak over the treetops. He jumped to the curtains, drawing them closed before he could be burnt yet again. The room was bathed in darkness, only broken by the single candle flame, which was more than sufficient for Kyouya to see by. He stepped back to the table, quickly reading through what he'd written while he was daydreaming. Finding everything to be in order, he debated whether to keep working or try to get some sleep.

Nearly three hours later, Kyouya finally blew out the candle and placed his glasses on the table out of harm's way. Then he stretched his lanky frame out on the couch, closing his eyes and listening to the quiet breathing of the redhead using his bed. It was strangely soothing and Kyouya found himself drifting off to sleep quickly…

Feeling something brush across his forehead, Kyouya reacted before he was even properly awake. His hand shot out to grab the offending object, even as his fangs flashed and an angry hiss escaped his lips.

"Oww, jeeze, sorry, don't tear my hand off!" someone yelped.

Kyouya finally registered that what he was grabbing was a wrist, and his eyes opened to see Kaoru standing next to him and actually looking a little alarmed. Kyouya studied the boy in front of him even as his body relaxed.

"Sorry," he said quietly as he released Kaoru's wrist.

Kaoru took his arm back, rubbing it lightly and examining it. "No, it's fine. I probably shouldn't have done that."

"What WERE you doing?" Kyouya asked.

Kaoru actually blushed. "Oh… it was… stupid…" he muttered.

Kyouya just stared at him.

Kaoru took a nervous step back, as though he was actually considering the possibility that Kyouya would want to hurt him. "I just… you looked really… relaxed… while you were sleeping… and your hair was kind of in your face… and I wanted to see what you liked like without your glasses."

Kyouya sighed, running a hand through his hair to brush it out of his eyes. "I could have killed you because you tried to brush my hair off my face while I was sleeping… For heaven's sakes… if you wanted to see what I looked like without glasses that badly, you could have asked."

Kaoru went even more scarlet. "I… hadn't even thought about it… until I saw you just now… Besides, last time I tried to ask you something, you brushed me off, remember?" he added, a little defensively.

Kyouya just sighed. "You asked me what happened when I was turned into a vampire. While we were in a crowded ballroom. You shouldn't hold that against me."

"Okay, fine," Kaoru agreed. He stepped over to the small table and picked up Kyouya's glasses, turning them and squinting at the lenses. "These are pretty cool. I would have thought becoming a vampire would have fixed your eyesight though."

"So did I," Kyouya admitted. "But instead it just gave me amazing night-vision."

"Where did you get these?" Kaoru asked.

"They were a gift… from when I was a human," Kyouya said cautiously.

Kaoru didn't continue that line of questioning. He just stepped over to hand the glasses to Kyouya, who took them and slipped them back onto the bridge of his nose. Kaoru's head tilted to one side as he studied him. "You look nice without your glasses," he said at last.

Kyouya blinked. "Thank you…" he said slowly. "How are you feeling?" he asked at last. He noticed that Kaoru had apparently taken one of his shirts, a white garment which was a little too big and hung loosely on his skinny frame.

"I'm fine. Thanks, seriously," Kaoru said quietly. "I don't know how I'm ever going to pay you back for all the times you've saved my life since we met."

Kyouya didn't know how to respond to that, so he just gestured for the boy to sit on the other end of the couch, which he did.

"I'm sorry about taking your bed last night," Kaoru went on once he was seated. "I felt so guilty when I realized you were sleeping on the couch."

"Don't," Kyouya said. "I always sleep here."

Kaoru blinked. "What? Are you serious? You have this amazingly comfortable bed and you don't use it? Why?"

Kyouya shrugged.

"Another of those things you don't talk about?" Kaoru asked, wrinkling his nose.

"And I suppose you would tell me absolutely anything I asked about yourself or your past?" Kyouya asked.

"Well, you haven't asked me anything yet," Kaoru said. "But I'd probably tell you whatever you wanted to know. I have nothing to hide."

"And you think I do?"

"You're a vampire and you've been alive for who knows how many years. You probably have at least a few skeletons in your closet," Kaoru said matter-of-factly.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Do you think it should?"

Kyouya considered that. "I guess that depends…"

"On what?" Kaoru asked.

"On what you want from me."

Kaoru actually looked stumped. "Well… that doesn't help much… I don't know what I want from you."

Kyouya blinked.

"What?" Kaoru asked.

"Nothing," Kyouya said with a small shake of his head.

Kaoru leaned back and regarded Kyouya thoughtfully. "Let me guess, usually everyone either avoids you or doesn't like you… and if they do act nice, they usually want some kind of favor."

"I think I should be disturbed by how well you seem to be able to read me," Kyouya said.

"But you aren't."

"Not really. It's sort of refreshing actually."

"Well, that's what happens when everyone around you hates you for existing… you become really damn good at reading the people around you."

Kyouya glanced at the boy, but didn't speak.

"What, no questions?" Kaoru asked with a wry grin.

"If I don't want to answer your questions, it isn't fair to expect you to answer mine."

Kaoru's grin widened. "That's fair."

A knock on the door startled both of them. "Enter," Kyouya called, twisting around to watch the door. He could already feel his body coiling, the fight from the day before still fresh in his mind.

Lord Mori entered soundlessly, his eyes sweeping over the pair on the couch impassively. "Lord Honey requests that you not skip this evening's meeting," he said quietly.

Kyouya frowned. "I wasn't planning on… _skipping_…"

Lord Mori shrugged. "Just giving you the message."

"Of course. Thank you."

Mori hesitated a moment longer. "He may scold you about… the incident."

"The incident where I threw two vampires out a window?"

Mori nodded.

"How angry is he?"

Mori paused to consider that. "Not as angry as I expected. They were troublemakers."

Kyouya nodded. "Then I can handle it. Thank you for letting me know."

Mori nodded, then departed as silently as he'd come. Kaoru was fidgeting.

"What am I going to do while you're at this… meeting?"

Kyouya shrugged. "You can come with me if you want. Or you can stay here. Or you can go anywhere in the castle. I'm not keeping you locked up here."

Kaoru made a face. "I'd rather not head back into the castle. I'm not faring well here, and eventually you're not going to be around to save me."

Kyouya chuckled. "You started off so well too."

"Yeah, well… I wasn't injured then," Kaoru said ruefully. "And there are a lot more vampires… and humans. It's not really safe to be me anywhere it seems."

"Eventually I'm going to be curious enough to risk asking you about that…" Kyouya mused, rising to his feet.

"It's not a big secret… I promise I'll answer," Kaoru said with a grin.

"I told you… It's not fair to ask questions if I won't answer them myself," Kyouya said. "But…" He hesitated.

"But…?" Kaoru prompted gently.

"Will you be remaining here or accompanying me?" Kyouya asked, seeming to change the subject.

"Uh… I guess I'll come along, if you're sure it's okay."

For a moment, Kyouya's eyes glowed red. "It will not be a problem. And I guarantee your safety."

"You must be really important in the clan," Kaoru said.

"Technically I'm third in command," Kyouya said. "That's why so many vampires resent me… I'm very young compared to them."

"How long have you been a vampire?"

"Twenty-five years," Kyouya said. "Longer than I was a human."

"How old were you?"

"I was twenty." Kyouya hesitated then added, "And I suspect many of your questions will be answered when you meet our fourth in command."

"Who's that?"

"Tamaki Suoh. I think I can safely say he's the only being in this world I've ever truly considered a friend. And someone as intuitive as you will probably find this evening very educational."

Kaoru looked surprised when Kyouya said that, and the vampire had to work to suppress a smile.

* * *

A/N: Well that was fun. Next chapter will be interesting. I intend to bring Evil Honey back… because I can. I have no idea when I'll update…

Actually, I just took a tumble down a flight of stairs the other day and basically my entire lower left leg is one massive and extremely painful bruise… and sitting in my computer chair is pure agony. It could be worse... last time I did something similar, I was on crutches for two weeks and my knee is STILL messed up three years later. And this wasn't nearly that bad. Still hurts though. So until I start healing up, I'm not going to be spending much time sitting at my computer, and therefore not much time writing unless I decide to go old-school and write in a notebook… I haven't done that in like five or six years… We'll see.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A/N: So I didn't manage to go back to the notebook… I guess I'm broken now, I can really only write at my laptop. Oh well.

Anyways, I'm still not quite sure how much longer this fic will be. I'm guessing at least two more chapters, maybe three if I go off on more tangents and stuff, but I could probably wrap it up in two… woohoo, lucky thirteen chapters!

Lots of Evil Honey at the end of this chapter, so he probably seems really OOC, but that's okay, right? Pretend he just woke up from a nap! Actually, he probably did…

Quick shout-out to Kudos4U, whose review came at just the right time to give me the impetus to write the whole scene with Evil Honey yesterday. I had been trying to persuade myself all day to finish it up, but that review came and I was like "okay, I can write now" and I got it done, edited it today, and here we are! So yay for good timing with reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club, but you should really know that by now.

* * *

It wasn't until they were halfway to the suite where the upper crust of Clan Ouran had their nightly meeting that Kyouya remembered that Kaoru was still wearing one of his shirts. Not that he particularly minded… Kaoru had selected a rather nice white shirt that Kyouya himself had never worn. It was too long in the sleeves and too large on that skinny frame, but it worked well enough.

"Do I have to worry in here?" Kaoru asked, his strides doing their best to match Kyouya's.

"No," Kyouya said shortly. When Kaoru looked unconvinced, Kyouya elaborated by saying, "I will protect you. Not that you'll need it. Lord Honey has rules."

"That don't include chomping on random humans in his private quarters?" Kaoru asked, trying to joke to hide the fear.

Kyouya allowed a brief smile to cross his features. "It is considered rude to… feed on a living human during one of these meetings," he said cautiously.

"So many rules," Kaoru huffed.

"You should be grateful that we have all these rules," Kyouya told him.

"Why? Because without them, you'd just be a horde of murderous savages, roaming about the country and killing indiscriminately?"

Kyouya glanced sideways, but Kaoru's expression was impossible to read. "You need to change the way you perceive me," he said at last.

"How do you mean?"

"You are looking at me as though I'm a human. I'm not human any longer," Kyouya said softly. "It's more than an avoidance of sunlight and a taste for human blood."

"I… I know that…" Kaoru said quietly. "I'm actually… surprised by how human you still act."

Kyouya stopped walking. "Explain."

"You're not the first vampire I've ever met," Kaoru said, even more quietly. "Surely you've noticed that my brother and I are… different."

"Yes…" Kyouya said slowly.

"Well… we didn't complete our training… but at one time, we were being trained as hunters."

That gave Kyouya reason to pause. Hunters were extremely rare, but very dangerous. They were the only humans who could consistently kill vampires.

Kaoru ran his tongue over dry lips. "We're not fully-trained, so I doubt I could take a vampire as strong as you in a fight… But we trained. I've known vampires before. And on the whole… they're really like animals. They were feral… They only think of blood… well, blood and sex." He shrugged. "But you… you could almost fool me into thinking you were a human."

Kyouya just stared at him.

"You… you're not given over to pleasure," Kaoru attempted to explain. "You're practical, you're intelligent… you're compassionate," he added, ducking his head. "I never thought… that a vampire would act the way you do."

Kyouya blinked. "You think I am a human-like vampire?" he clarified at last. Kaoru nodded. "Even after what I told you… about how I always kill when I feed?"

"A lack of control doesn't say anything about the type of person you are," Kaoru pointed out.

Kyouya didn't know how to respond to that, so he resumed walking, trusting that Kaoru would follow him… and then wondering when that had become a thing he did…

With his superior vampire hearing, Kyouya knew that an argument was brewing before they arrived. But even Kaoru couldn't miss the raised voices before they'd reached the door. "What in the world?" the redhead muttered.

"It sounds like your brother," Kyouya muttered. "Which can only mean one thing…" He kneaded his fingertips across his forehead for a moment before pushing open the door. "Tamaki, when I asked you to look for Kaoru's brother, this is certainly not what I meant."

Hikaru and Tamaki were facing off against each other. Hikaru was holding two knives between his fingers, their silver blades gleaming in the dull light. Tamaki's fangs were bared, more as a response to a challenge than an actual threat.

Immediately distracted by the appearance of his twin, Hikaru plunked both knives blade-first into the nearest table before stepping around Kyouya to get a good look at his brother. Kyouya, relieved that he wouldn't have to watch his back, stepped towards Tamaki, who was practically spluttering with indignation.

"He's an absolute brat!" Tamaki was raving. "When I told him that you were taking care of his brother, I thought he was going to tear apart the castle looking for you! He wouldn't shut up the whole night!"

Kyouya blinked, resisting the urge to glance back and see if Hikaru was marked on his wrist or neck. "I didn't ask you to keep an eye on him…"

"You might as well have!" Tamaki sulked. "You told me his brother was attacked and badly hurt, and then you sent me off to find him… He'd probably have been attacked too if I hadn't taken him to my room, which he proceeded to absolutely destroy, by the way! Apparently he gets _restless _and _bored_ without his dear little brother around!" Tamaki's violet eyes rolled up dramatically, as though there were the worst possible sins in the world, and Kyouya was trying not to laugh at the indignation. But he was also trying to subtly eavesdrop on the brothers behind him.

Hikaru was checking over all his brothers' injuries, while frantically whispering to him. "It's getting too hard to keep our secrets here, Kaoru. We need to try to get out of here," he whispered, so low that Kyouya only barely caught the words.

"But Hikaru…"

"Look what they did to you, and that's before they even knew about us…" Hikaru continued muttering. "We're not safe here. Better to die trying to escape than be slowly tortured and killed for who we are…"

"I already told Kyouya."

"You did WHAT?!" Hikaru shouted, forgetting the need for quiet. Kyouya and Tamaki both turned to stare at the redheaded twins. Hikaru whirled around to stare at Kyouya, his eyes wild with alarm. "What the hell have you done to my brother?" he shouted.

"I beg your pardon?" Kyouya asked, completely lost.

"Hikaru, he didn't do anything…"

"You must have done something to him! What did you do, hypnotize him? Threaten him? Seduce him?" He was now standing protectively in front of his brother as he shouted his accusations.

"What is he on about?" Tamaki asked Kyouya, who was just as mystified.

"Kaoru wouldn't have told you anything… so you must have done something to him!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"All I did was rescue him, again I might add, and bandage his wounds," Kyouya protested. "I certainly wouldn't try to threaten him, and vampires don't have the power to hypnotize humans; that's sensationalist propaganda."

"I notice you didn't say anything about seducing him," Hikaru snarled.

Kyouya nearly choked. "What? Of course not!"

"He didn't do anything to me!" Kaoru yelled. "I figured that they were going to find out anyways, and it would be better if we told them ourselves."

"You're lying!" Hikaru exclaimed. "You wouldn't do something like that!"

And then Hikaru lunged towards the table, snatching up the knives and brandishing them in front of him. Kyouya, visibly alarmed, took a step back, holding his hands up to defend himself. Kaoru dove forward, wrapping his arms around his brother's waist, holding him back but not pinning his arms. And Tamaki flew forward, his fangs and claws bared as he leapt in front of Kyouya with a snarl. Kyouya just managed to grab the blonde vampire's wrist, barely stopping the human and vampire from attacking each other.

"Hikaru, don't!" Kaoru yelled.

"Tamaki, stop!" Kyouya exclaimed, managing to wrap his other arm around the blonde's chest. With a little effort, Kyouya and Kaoru were able to keep Tamaki and Hikaru separated. For a moment the room was silent except for soft rapid breathing.

"I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by asking what the hell is going on here," an icy voice said, and they all turned to see Lord Honey and Lord Mori standing at the inner doorway. The small blonde vampire snapped his fingers at the twins. "You two… get the hell out. Go back to the rooms you spent the day in."

Hikaru and Tamaki glared at each other, but Kaoru gave Hikaru's arm a tug and they left the room, though Kaoru turned and mouthed the words 'thank you' to Kyouya.

Lord Honey sat down on his carved throne. "Kyouya," he said coldly. Kyouya let go of Tamaki, then stepped up to the throne and bowed to his lord. "Do you have… even half a clue… about how pissed off I am right now?" Lord Honey asked.

Kyouya risked a glance up. The young-looking vampire's fingers gripped the arms of the throne in a death grip. His eyes had a muted red glow, not the roaring scarlet hue they took when he lost all control, but getting close. It was safer to keep silent, so he did.

"You…brought…hunters…into…our…castle!" Honey snarled, his fangs appearing and his eyes glowing that terrifying scarlet color. Kyouya didn't have time to move as the older and more powerful vampire leapt off the throne, his small hand wrapping itself around Kyouya's slender throat, knocking him over backwards. Tamaki made a strangled noise, but didn't move to interfere.

Kyouya's hands automatically grabbed the arm attached to the hand that was currently choking him, but he knew better than to actually fight the vampire lord. Right now he was probably not in real danger of being killed, but that could change if he tried to fight. "I didn't know…" he gasped out.

"Didn't know they were hunters?" Lord Honey scoffed, kneeling on Kyouya's chest now with his full (though not considerable) weight. "You watched them kill two vampires, Kyouya, it doesn't take a fucking genius to work it out!"

"But they haven't done anything…" Kyouya gasped.

"So you say," Honey snarled. "But two of my vampires died yesterday, Kyouya. The only ones around who would have done such a thing were you… and that boy, Kaoru. How do I know you're not covering for him?"

"Why would I do something like that?" Kyouya protested.

"Why the hell do you do any of the things you do?" Honey spat out. "I thought I had you figured out that night that I turned you, but you still make no damn sense. I ought to just rip your throat out right now and save myself any further trouble from you, then go and destroy those boys before they start a massacre inside my own castle!"

For a few painful moments, everyone was silent. Then Kyouya, swallowing down his alarm, managed to speak. "My lord, if we were to make them part of the clan…"

"I'll not turn them into vampires!" Honey snarled. "You can forget about it."

"But if they became servants… loyal to the clan…" Kyouya tried again.

And a terrible smile appeared on Honey's face, and Kyouya felt as though he might be sick. Lord Honey had been waiting for him to make this suggestion, and he already had a plan in place. And Kyouya knew he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"An excellent suggestion, my dear Kyouya," Honey said coolly. "In fact, I think it's high time that you found yourself a human servant. You, of all the vampires in my castle, could use one… Don't you agree? You do so much work for the clan… Having a human servant would make your life so much… easier."

Kyouya thought he might vomit.

"What about that Kaoru boy? You seem to have… taken a shine to him. In fact, I don't think I've seen you show such interest in another person since…" Golden eyes flicked in Tamaki's direction. "Well, since you were human. You like him, don't you? Don't be afraid to admit it, we're all friends here."

"My lord…"

"Don't try to persuade me on this, Kyouya. I think it would be good for you to have a human servant… that particular human servant in fact. So I suggest that you go back to your quarters… the boy should be there, correct? I did tell him to return to the place he'd spent the day, and that was with you, wasn't it? So he should be there… waiting for you…"

Kyouya tried to speak, but it felt as though something was lodged in his throat, and he couldn't get the words out.

"If you successfully make a human servant out of that boy, then he'll be loyal to you… and you are loyal to me, aren't you?" Honey asked, a note of warning in his voice.

"Of course, my lord," Kyouya said.

"And if he's loyal to you, he's loyal to me as well. And if you fail, well… regrettable, but it does happen."

Failure meant only one thing of course.

"And his brother?" Kyouya asked at last.

"Ahh…" Honey sighed. "Well, if you are successful, we'll make some arrangements for the twin. If not… I'm sure things will take care of themselves."

And by that, he meant that Hikaru would likely attack Kyouya again, and either Kyouya would be forced to kill the boy in self-defense, or someone else (Tamaki, most likely) would kill the boy to protect Kyouya. And everything hinged on whether Kyouya could control his bloodlust.

"You accept my proposition then?" Honey asked, as though Kyouya had a choice.

Kyouya closed his eyes, forcing his hands to let go of Lord Honey's wrist and drop to his sides. "Your word is my command, my lord."

The hand around his throat finally loosened, but Kyouya didn't open his eyes. He had no desire to see the smug triumph on Honey's face. "Excellent," the vampire overlord practically purred.

* * *

A/N: Oh god… so much Evil Honey! I love it to pieces! Oh my god! And next chapter is gonna be so epic, mwahaha! Yay! Hopefully I'll write it quickly…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait for this chapter… I hadn't even started the damn thing when my family decided to take a last-minute holiday down to Florida, and I preferred lying on the beach and hiking to, you know, writing… And then I came back and promptly got to work! …On all my other fics. *sigh* I'm really sorry about that, but if I'm not actually inspired to work on a fic, then the quality just isn't as good. But at long last, my muse has returned to me and this chapter has finally been written! It has a little more background information about the twins, and then… well… you'll see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club.

* * *

From the time he was a small child, Kyouya had always made it a point to have excellent self-control. Being a vampire had not changed that habit. So far, the only thing that had ever made him truly lose control was his own bloodlust.

This latest incident with Lord Honey had nearly shredded his self-control in ways the bloodlust never could.

Once he'd been released, Kyouya had backed out of the room before carefully taking the longest route possible back to his room, willing the white-hot pressure behind his eyes to subside. Finally he reached the door to his room and he could not bring himself to stall any longer, so he went straight in.

The sight arrested him. Kaoru was sitting in the window seat, the curtains drawn open to reveal the slender half-moon and the grounds below. His knees were drawn up almost to his chest, and his elbows were propped against them, his head resting on one palm as he gazed out the window. The moon lent an otherworldly glow to the overlarge white shirt and made the boy's skin look almost translucent. Kyouya narrowed his eyes and deliberately did NOT look to see if he could see the boy's veins.

Although Kyouya had entered the room as quietly as he possibly could, Kaoru still turned his head. "So how much trouble are you in because of us?" he asked.

Kyouya's lips pressed into a thin line and he didn't answer.

"That bad, huh?" Kaoru sighed, twisting his slender body and bringing his feet down to rest on the floor. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Kyouya asked. "Lord Honey was right. It was my decision to bring you and your brother to the castle even after I saw you kill two vampires. Ordinary humans normally cannot do that. I should have known from the beginning that you were hunters. I endangered the clan, and Lord Honey is quite correct to be angry with me."

Kaoru chewed on his lip. "It doesn't seem fair though. You saved our lives twice. We have no reason…"

Kyouya shook his head. "If you had completed your training, I doubt you would think that. You would likely have taken my compassion as a sign of weakness and commenced a slaughter."

Kaoru looked troubled. "I wish I could say you're wrong… But I can't," he said with a sigh.

"May I ask you a personal question?" Kyouya asked, settling himself on the couch, his head propped on one of the armrests so he could continue to watch the red-haired human.

Kaoru waved his hand in a vague gesture. "Anything," he said agreeably.

"You've mentioned a few times that you did not complete your hunter training. May I ask why you didn't?"

Kaoru ducked his head, and for a moment, Kyouya wondered if he had crossed a line… Then he realized that Kaoru was chuckling. "Boy, you get right to the heart of the matter, don't you?" he said, a grin still evident on his face when he looked up to meet Kyouya's eyes.

Kyouya lifted an eyebrow. He'd had a feeling it would be a complicated story… And, if he was being honest with himself, anything that delayed the inevitable conversation about the boy's fate… was welcome. Kyouya didn't normally like to indulge in denial, but Kaoru did seem to bring out unusual facets in Kyouya's personality that he'd forgotten about…

"I'm sure you've noticed by now, clever vampire that you are, that my brother and I don't really look like gypsies," Kaoru was saying. Kyouya nodded once, he'd noticed that as soon as he'd laid eyes on the slender pale boys. "Well, our mom may have been a gypsy, but our dad… he wasn't."

"He was a hunter," Kyouya supplied.

Kaoru nodded. "I have no idea how he met our mother, but he did, and… Well." He shrugged. Kyouya's mind could fill in the blanks that would have resulted in twin boys. "And evidently he insisted that he raise us and… and train us." Kaoru paused for a moment, seeming absolutely fascinated by his fingernails.

Kyouya just waited. He was sure Kaoru would keep talking. And he wasn't wrong.

"We were in training until we were almost eleven years old. And then our dad died."

"How?"

Kaoru gave him a bemused half-smile. "He was a hunter… how do you think he died?"

"Vampire attack…" Kyouya sighed.

"Yep," Kaoru agreed. "Took almost twenty vampires to kill him too," he added with a note of pride in his voice.

Kyouya tilted his head back to gaze at the ceiling, his long lean body stretching across the length of the couch. "What happened after he died?"

Kaoru scowled, twisting his head back to gaze out the window again. "His family didn't want any half-gypsy brats running around. They didn't dare go against our father's wishes when he was alive, but as soon as he was dead…" He shrugged. "We were trash to them, so they threw us right out. And our mom took us back with her to the gypsy caravan."

"That didn't go over well either," Kyouya said, not bothering to make it a question.

Kaoru sighed. "What tipped you off?" he asked sarcastically. "Anyways, our mom died just a few months later. There was a fall from a horse…" He shrugged again, a bit more helplessly that time. "They didn't turn us out, because even though we had 'devil's blood' as they liked to call it, we were still kin and they couldn't abandon us. Sometimes I think we would have been better off though."

Kyouya frowned slightly, remembering the marks of abuse left on Kaoru's body… the burns, the whip marks, the scars… that coupled with how skinny he was, and how much the other gypsies obviously resented the two boys…

Kaoru lifted an eyebrow. "I know you've seen my scars. You couldn't have missed them. Why beat around the bush?"

Kyouya shrugged. "Could have been a sensitive topic."

Kaoru laughed mirthlessly. "Just don't ask how I got them. Some were from training, but some…" He shook his head.

"You didn't have to tell me all that, you know," Kyouya said, lowering his chin so he could regard the young man again.

"No, probably not," Kaoru agreed. "But… it just seems like… like something that someone else should know. Otherwise… well… It'll be like we never existed, won't it?"

Instantly on alert, Kyouya lifted his head off the arm of the couch a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Don't try to lie," Kaoru said quietly. "You were in an awful mood when you came back here, I could see it immediately. You don't look like you were roughed up too badly, so you must have been told something that you really don't like. I can't see how Tamaki could possibly be involved in this, so it must be about me, and if it's about me, it must mean that Hikaru and I have been sentenced to die."

Kyouya looked away with a grimace, hating that Kaoru could talk so casually about death… especially his own.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Kaoru insisted, leaning forward slightly.

"You may as well be," Kyouya said, so quietly he wasn't sure if Kaoru's human ears would pick up the words.

"I don't understand…" Kaoru said softly.

Realizing that he couldn't keep dodging this conversation, Kyouya pulled himself into a mostly sitting position. "Lord Honey said that your only options are to be killed… or to become my human servant."

Kaoru blinked. Then he blinked again. "Do I get to choose?" he asked at last.

Now it was Kyouya's turn for a bitter smile. "Don't you remember that conversation we had down in the cells? I can't have a human servant. My control is… tenuous at best. You've been sentenced to die at my hand, but it's being disguised as an offer of safety."

"I see…" Kaoru said quietly. Then he shrugged. "Well, that's better than I'd hoped for. If there's even a small chance I'll wind up as a servant… I'd rather be yours."

Kyouya stared at him. "Why?" he asked at last. "It can't possibly be an easy life. I mean, there are benefits, you do get some residual powers… enhanced senses, eternal youth, things like that… but you would have to let me take your blood on a daily basis. And… why me?"

"Partly because you're actually nice to me," Kaoru admitted with a grin. "And anyways, I think you're looking for someone just as hard as I am."

Kyouya stilled there on the couch, suddenly watching Kaoru with a new wariness.

"There was something… something between you and Tamaki," Kaoru plunged on. "But now that you're both vampires… there can't be anything. That must be torture."

Kyouya still didn't move. But this time, Kaoru waited for a response. Kyouya couldn't resist responding with sarcasm. "So what, you're hoping that we could be lonely together?"

Kaoru looked down at his hands. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I think we'd be good for each other."

"I've lived for a quarter-century so far as a vampire. I think I can handle my own problems," Kyouya snarled.

Kaoru looked him dead in the eye. "I have no doubt that you can. But all I'm saying is that you wouldn't have to do so alone. Everyone needs an outlet now and then."

It took a minute before Kyouya could form words. "You know, this conversation is pointless. I won't be able to stop… to control myself…"

"Have you ever tried?" Kaoru asked.

That simple question made Kyouya's throat close up. He couldn't have spoken a word if his life depended on it.

"Have you?" Kaoru pressed.

"I… have never wanted to," Kyouya said at last. "I just… always assumed that I would not be able to stop… because of how I kill when we raid villages…"

Kaoru leaned forward so far that he seemed about to fall right off the window seat. "So you've never tried to make a human servant before… because you've never wanted to?"

Kyouya shook his head.

Kaoru (rather impossibly) managed to lean forward even more. "And do you want me? Or would you prefer to kill me?"

"I…" Kyouya had to stop, swallow, try to speak again. "I do not want to kill you. This… this is Lord Honey's way of punishing me. He is sure I will kill you."

Kaoru licked his lips, amber eyes shining. "Then let's prove him wrong."

"I don't think…"

"If you keep saying that you'll fail, then you will," Kaoru said firmly.

Kyouya had no response to that.

"So how shall we do this?" Kaoru asked. "What vein do you prefer?"

Kyouya hesitated. "To mark you as mine… it has to be on your neck."

"Ahh…" Kaoru sighed, finally standing up. He turned, drawing the curtains closed, leaving both of them in complete darkness. "How shall we do this then?"

Kyouya sighed. "I don't really know," he admitted. After a short pause, he said, "Come over here. To the couch."

Kaoru padded over on his bare feet. Kyouya watched the shadowy figure, knowing his night vision was better than the human's. When Kaoru was close, he reached out and caught the boy's wrist, pulling him down to sit next to him on the couch. Kaoru's sharp intake of breath at the contact was loud in Kyouya's ears.

"Lie down," Kyouya decided at last. "And for heaven's sakes, DO NOT fight me, understand?"

"Yeah," Kaoru whispered, lying down on the couch the way Kyouya had been earlier, his head propped up on the armrest of the couch, his head tipped back to bare his throat, and his arms lying relaxed at his side.

"You're sure about this?" Kyouya asked.

Kaoru chuckled. "You say that like we have a choice."

Kyouya managed a soft snort of laughter. "Do you want me to warn you before I bite?"

"Probably be smart," Kaoru said, "otherwise I might tense up or move without meaning to."

Kyouya nodded in understanding. "Okay then." And he smoothly straddled Kaoru's narrow hips, one hand sliding across the soft white material of the shirt before gripping Kaoru's shoulder to hold him in place. It was an added bonus that the shirt was so big; it had already slid down to expose most of his right collarbone. Spotting the ideal vein, he braced himself with his other hand next to Kaoru's head. "I'm going to bite you in a moment. Stay as still as possible."

Kaoru nodded once. His breathing rate had picked up noticeably, and Kyouya could smell the sweat, the adrenaline, the raw fear. It wasn't as strong as he usually smelled from his victims… Kaoru was doing a remarkable job of controlling himself. Without waiting any longer, Kyouya dipped his head, fangs pricking the skin, the first few scarlet droplets leaking onto his tongue.

Kaoru made a soft whimpering noise, his head dipping back even further, which surprised Kyouya a little. He was tempted to stop, to call it done, but this tiny bite wouldn't leave a mark, and Lord Honey wouldn't be happy with it. Besides, Kyouya certainly couldn't live on only a couple drops of blood. Trying to spare the young man now would only result in his death later when hunger drove Kyouya to the brink. So, still attempting to be gentle, he dug his fangs in more firmly, lapped up the rivulet that pooled from the wound, then sucked on the bite mark.

And Kaoru actually moaned.

Kyouya hesitated, but the moan didn't… didn't quite sound like pain. He licked at the wound again, prodding it experimentally to see if the blood flow was slowing. And Kaoru's whole body shuddered. Kyouya gulped, the scent of blood clouding all his other senses. He could see the red mists beginning to cloud his vision as he felt Kaoru squirm beneath him. "Stay still, damnit," he hissed.

When one of Kaoru's hands managed to get free, grasping at Kyouya's waist, he couldn't stop his claws from appearing, perceiving the struggles as a fight. And things could have gone very badly after that except Kaoru managed to cup Kyouya's cheek with his hand, lifting the vampire's head away from his neck enough to look him in the eyes. And through the red mists that were seeping through his vision, Kyouya could see that Kaoru's pupils were blown wide. And when Kaoru's body arched slightly, Kyouya was left in no doubt what the problem was… Kaoru was incredibly aroused. And something about Kaoru's obvious desire was enough to dissipate the red mists faster than they'd accumulated.

"What… the hell?" Kaoru panted, his body shaking slightly beneath Kyouya's.

"I… have no explanation…" Kyouya said quietly. "Although… the relationships between vampires and their servants are often sexual in nature… I had assumed that it was a conscious choice… but perhaps not… perhaps it's… a side effect."

That would make sense, actually… If vampire saliva contained an aphrodisiac, driving humans wild with desire… It would explain so much…

Kyouya was abruptly dragged back to earth when one of Kaoru's hands closed around one of Kyouya's wrists. "Umm… so… are you done? Are we done?" Kaoru asked.

For a moment, Kyouya couldn't answer. He was absolutely mesmerized by the way Kaoru's pupils were swallowing up those amber irises. And for the first time since he'd become a vampire, Kyouya could feel himself coming undone. He quickly glanced down at the dark red mark. "Yes, I think that will do," he said, surprised to realize that his voice was shaking slightly.

"Okay," Kaoru said with a breathless nod. "Okay. Good. I… I'm going to… I need to…"

He didn't seem able to pull together a coherent sentence, but the message was clear enough. Kyouya licked his lips, still tasting Kaoru's blood there. It was intoxicating, and he wanted more… but for once, he wasn't interested in consuming more… he was more interested in the effects of the bite on this quivering human. "This may seem odd to you…" he said slowly, "especially given what I've just done to you. So feel free to say no. But… if you'd permit me…" And Kyouya glanced meaningfully at the bed.

"Oh my god yes," Kaoru practically panted, pushing himself up onto his elbows and arching up to kiss a startled Kyouya right on the lips. Instinctively Kyouya grabbed the human's shoulders, holding him upright, and he cautiously returned the kiss. And as Kaoru's body pressed hungrily against his own, Kyouya found himself responding, enjoying the interest of the attractive redhead. In a matter of seconds, they were losing their shirts and their limbs were becoming tangled.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Kaoru murmured against Kyouya's lips.

Kyouya snorted. "I was about to completely lose control and tear your throat open when you stopped me and made me look at you."

"And that worked, didn't it?" Kaoru demanded.

"It did. But it may be a long time before I completely trust myself not to lose control around you."

"I accept your challenge," Kaoru murmured, "especially if this is the end result every time."

Kyouya managed a throaty chuckle as Kaoru's legs wrapped themselves around his waist. He managed to relocate them to the bed; and for the first time, that giant bed didn't feel quite as large as he explored his new human mate's body for the first time.

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A/N: Phew. I just churned this out in one evening's worth of writing. Look what happens when I actually put my mind to writing this freaking fic. I'm going to go pass out now. Next chapter SHOULD be the last chapter, we shall see. There MIGHT be an epilogue, but I don't know if I want to write one or not. Right now I'm planning for the next chapter to be the last. I'll try to have it up before the month is over… Hopefully I can make that goal.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

A/N: So I know I failed spectacularly at my plan to post this before August ended, but here we are. Frankly, I'm amazed I got this thing written at all… sapphireanguil had to drag me back to this fic kicking and screaming… so thank her, otherwise I would have just avoided it forever and hidden in shame whenever someone asked about it. Seriously, just about every time we talked, she was like "are you writing HBW?" and when I said no, she'd threaten to kidnap Mori or Sherlock or someone like that until (again, kicking and screaming) I returned to this fic. And then she finally convinced me to watch Sword Art Online, and I watched all 25 eps in two days and drowned in feels and then they had to go somewhere, so… they ended up here. It's all her fault!

Yes, the fic is over now! I'm kind of sorry, cuz it's always sad to see a fic end. But frankly I am no longer inspired by this fic, so it's time to set it aside and move on to my other projects. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this fic, your support really encouraged me, and I was always delighted to see any sign that someone was enjoying this fic! Thanks again, and enjoy the final chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club or any characters.

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Kyouya scarcely slept that day. Although his body felt better than it had in a long time, his thoughts were moving at a terrifying pace. And every one of them revolved around the handsome redhead sleeping next to him. One night had convinced him beyond any doubt that he needed this young man in his life… and therein lay the problem.

If Lord Honey really was set on getting rid of the twins… what could Kyouya do to prevent it? He could protect Kaoru, and in fact would be well within his rights to attack Honey if he perceived a threat to his new mate. But he had no such claims on Hikaru, and frankly didn't want to. The other boy seemed like a handful… and besides, Kyouya was sure that his genuine affection for Kaoru would keep him from losing control and killing the boy, and he could make no such promises regarding the brother.

If Lord Honey threatened Kaoru's life… could Kyouya take him away from all this? It would be difficult. There were many reasons that vampires congregated in large clans like this… Humans tended to be terrified of a blood-drinking monster in their midst, and could be aggressive. There was safety in numbers. And it tended to be obvious if a person avoided sunlight unless they were wealthy and lived in a great manor… Kyouya vaguely wondered what had become of his older siblings, his parents, and the property they all owned.

But… could he handle leaving Tamaki?

Kyouya's slate-gray eyes darted to Kaoru's sleeping form. That lean torso, nearly as pale as Kyouya's own deathly pallor, rose and fell in a gentle steady rhythm. And Kyouya sighed, regretting that he was thinking of Tamaki at a time like this. It would be a difficult habit to break… and Kyouya wondered just how far Kaoru's patience could stretch before it snapped. He genuinely hoped he would never find out.

Kyouya finally slid out of bed, dressing himself from head to foot in his usual pristine black clothing. This particular black shirt had the faintest periwinkle blue trim on the collar, and Kyouya thought it was appropriate to display a bit of Ouran color, if only to remind Lord Honey that Kyouya was still on his side… for now. Still musing over the situation, Kyouya sat down at his table and began looking through the stacks of parchment that littered the surface.

Kyouya was so lost in thought that it took him a few minutes to notice the amber eyes that were locked onto his every move. When he did become aware of the scrutiny, he didn't turn his head towards the redhead. "Did you sleep well?" he asked as he stared down at the paperwork he needed to complete soon.

Kaoru jumped a little when Kyouya spoke. "Um… yeah. I guess so," he said at last.

"Shall I ring for a maid? You should eat something," Kyouya said, gray eyes darting briefly to the red mark just above Kaoru's (very sensitive) collarbone. He adjusted his glasses unnecessarily and forced himself to return to his papers.

"Sure?" Kaoru said hesitantly. He sat up, running his fingers through his tousled hair.

"I'll have the maids start putting together a wardrobe for you, but until then…" Kyouya shrugged a little, making a vague gesture towards the cupboard that held his clothes. "Pick anything you like. My clothes seem to fit you reasonably well."

Kaoru's mouth seemed to move soundlessly for a moment. "Okay, but… What about you?"

Kyouya still didn't look up. "As you can see, I'm already dressed. As for sustenance, normally I would feed after waking up, but…" One slender shoulder rose and fell slowly. "I have taken adequate nourishment today I think. So don't hold yourself back on my account."

Kaoru looked even more baffled than before. But he quickly dressed in black pants and a light blue shirt that Kyouya despised on himself, but somehow looked very fetching on the redhead. Then he sat down across from Kyouya, crossing his arms and leaning on his elbows. "What's wrong?"

Kyouya wrinkled his nose. "Is it that obvious?"

Kaoru chewed on his lower lip. "You're worried."

Kyouya's fingers beat a few staccato notes on the tabletop. "It's probably unnecessary."

"But you're making plans. Care to share?" Kaoru asked.

Kyouya sighed. "There is a slight possibility that Lord Honey will… not react well… to the fact that you are still alive."

Kaoru blinked. "So, what, you think he'll have me killed anyways?"

"Absolutely not." Kyouya's voice was surprisingly firm.

"You sound… very sure…" Kaoru said slowly, looking at Kyouya with the oddest expression on his face. "But I thought…"

"He can try… but he won't be able to kill you." And for just a moment, Kyouya's eyes glowed a brilliant scarlet color. "He'll have to kill me first, and he won't do that."

Kaoru seemed to have stopped breathing. "That… that's ridiculous," he spluttered. "I mean, you can't honestly…" And he rubbed his fingertips against his forehead.

Kyouya leaned forward, reaching out to lift Kaoru's chin up with his fingertips. "Kaoru. I am not going to be like the other people in your life who have walked out on you. That mark I gave you means that you belong to me. No one is going to take you from me either. We have created a contract, you and I. You will not leave me, and I… I will always protect you. Honey understands this, and at heart, he is a good leader. I do not truly believe he'll harm you because of some petty grudge now that we have this bond, but I do like to be prepared, you know."

Kaoru exhaled slowly. "You're right. I trust you," he added with a winsome smile.

Kyouya chuckled. "Before last night, I would have wondered why on earth you'd do such a foolish thing as place your trust in a creature like me."

"Not just any creature. Only you," Kaoru said quietly. "Now, what are you working on? Anything I can help with?"

Relieved to change the subject, Kyouya quickly explained his duties running the clan behind the scenes. And, to his astonishment, Kaoru dived right in, eager to help in any way he could. He may not have had a traditional education, but he was clever and insightful in his own way, and Kyouya marveled at the new facets emerging in the boy's personality. And somehow their hands ended up entwined on the tabletop, and although both did eventually notice, neither made a move to extricate themselves.

When night fell, Kyouya led the way to the room where the inner circle met every night. When they entered, they were surprised to find Honey and Mori already waiting for them. Kyouya instinctively grabbed Kaoru's arm, pulling the slender young man just a bit closer.

Honey's golden eyes narrowed slightly and his fingers drummed against the arm of his ornate chair. "Impressive. You managed not to kill the poor boy. Or did you avoid the issue altogether? It wouldn't be your usual style, but then, you have a habit of doing foolish things for the people you're fond of."

Kyouya bristled at the words, but Kaoru wordlessly reached up and pulled down the collar of his shirt for Honey's inspection. Honey gave it a cursory glance, then waved a dismissive hand.

"Fine, fine, you kept your side of the bargain. You can keep your pet," he snapped. "Kyouya, do you have any information on those damned upstart Lobelia vampires?"

Kyouya lifted an eyebrow. "They're creating trouble, milord?"

"You could call it that, certainly," Lord Honey growled. "I should have killed that woman a long time ago, before she and her simpering followers managed to attract such a crowd. Now… an all-out war is to be avoided at all costs, of course."

"Of course," Kyouya agreed. Humans tended to get even more leery of vampires during pitched territorial battles… and why not, as vampire attacks increased tenfold during wartime. And as Kaoru hovered quietly nearby, the vampires began discussing the latest threat to their clan.

Minutes into the discussion, everyone could hear raised voices approaching.

"…might show a little more gratitude to the man who allowed you to share such comfortable quarters for two nights in a row!"

"I don't need to show gratitude to you, you spoiled little shit! The only reason you've stooped to keeping company with the likes of me is because your *friend* asked you to do it!"

"Maybe I would have been a more pleasant host if your antiquated attitudes about nobility weren't shoved in my face at every turn!"

"Oh, *I* have antiquated attitudes? You're decades older than me! Wake up and join the modern world already, ex-prince!"

"How dare you speak to me that way?"

"Easily enough, surprisingly! What are you going to do about it, hm?"

"May I remind you that I'm a vampire with a quarter-century of developed skills?"

"And may I remind YOU that I was trained as a hunter? You wouldn't escape from me unscathed!"

Kaoru groaned out loud. "Oh for heaven's sakes…" he muttered. "He just has to…"

Kyouya couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't think anyone has ever stood up to Tamaki like that before. It might be good for him."

A spasm of irritation crossed Honey's face. "Damn, I forgot there were two of you…" he muttered grumpily. "So this isn't over…"

Kaoru's whole body stilled and stiffened. Kyouya could feel the tension thrumming through the other man. "What are you going to do with him?" Kaoru whispered.

"Well, I certainly can't hand him over to just any vampire…" Honey mused out loud. "Even if you didn't complete your training, you are both dangerous enough… You've proved that already. And if I can't find a vampire strong enough to control him… He'll have to go."

Tamaki and Hikaru entered just as Lord Honey was saying that. The blonde and redhead locked eyes for just a moment, then Hikaru put on a bright smile.

"Kaoru! You're okay!" he exclaimed happily. "Tamaki said you'd probably be fine, but…" And he stepped forward to embrace his twin for a moment.

"And… and you're okay?" Kaoru asked, scrutinizing his brother's face.

"Of course I am," Hikaru scoffed. "Other than being nagged to death by that whiny prince over there, I'm perfectly fine."

Kyouya and Tamaki exchanged glances. Tamaki had an aggrieved expression on his face, but Kyouya was actually smirking. Tamaki must have found *something* he liked about the boy, otherwise he would have just killed him and been done with it… the prince didn't suffer fools gladly, not even fools with training as hunters. Tamaki's expression softened a bit under Kyouya's knowing gaze.

Lord Honey was watching the twins carefully. "Kyouya," he said at last, "I don't suppose you'd want to take on both of them."

Kaoru's head snapped up and he turned a pleading gaze onto Kyouya, who flinched, fighting not to actually squirm. "Kyouya…" Kaoru began, approaching him. "Please… he's my twin, my only family… I can't lose him…"

Honey looked downright amused. "If no one from the inner circle will take him… I don't know if we can trust anyone else with that kind of responsibility."

Kaoru whirled on Honey, and Kyouya caught him around the waist, pulling the young man close to him. "Kaoru, don't," Kyouya hissed.

"He's going to kill my brother…" Kaoru gasped.

"And if you take one step towards him, he'll kill you too. And I'll die before I let that happen," Kyouya said, wrapping his arm more securely around Kaoru.

"Kyouya, PLEASE!" Kaoru whimpered.

"I'm so sorry," was all Kyouya could say.

Hikaru was watching the pair, his expression slightly shocked… maybe a little dismayed as well. A spasm of something that might have been jealousy crossed his face. He simply wasn't used to anyone caring about their well-being. For so long, the twins had been forced to rely only on each other. But now… now Kaoru had someone else he could count on. And that realization was shocking… but such a relief.

Tamaki was also watching, between the relieved yet oddly wistful expression on Hikaru's face and the way that Kaoru and Kyouya were locked together… He nodded his head decisively. "Well, if that's the way it has to be… I'll take him."

Five pairs of shocked eyes landed on him.

"Are you joking?" Lord Honey blurted out.

Lord Mori, as usual, had nothing to say.

Kaoru looked so surprised… and so hopeful.

Kyouya also looked shocked. Just shocked, nothing else. "Tamaki…" he gasped.

Hikaru shook away his own surprise and crossed his arms. "What the hell makes you think I want to give blood to a spoiled brat like you?"

Tamaki scowled right back at him, crossing his arms as well. "Fine, I'm only trying to be kind and unselfish, letting you keep your life and spend eternity with your brother, surrounded by more wealth and comfort than you'd otherwise see in half a dozen lifetimes."

"Maybe I didn't need your help, did you ever think of that?"

"And maybe I don't really need your blood or your company, did you ever think of that?"

They glared at each other for a few moments more before suddenly dissolving into peals of laughter. Hikaru held out his hand at last. "Done!" he agreed with a smirk. "But we're setting up some ground rules for this absurd little partnership you've apparently been dying for."

Tamaki grabbed Hikaru's hand, yanking him closer until their bodies were practically flush against each other. "Foolish human, are you actually challenging me?" he demanded.

"So what if I am? Bring it on!" Hikaru said with a smirk. "I've heard that I get some residual powers when you take my blood, I'm curious what that does to my abilities. Maybe I could actually knock you down off that pompous little pedestal you've sat yourself on."

"ENOUGH!" Lord Honey exclaimed at last. "For heaven's sakes, take the flirting somewhere else!" he added, rubbing his forehead irritably. "Actually, don't… We have work to do, damnit! Save it for later!"

And Kyouya relaxed his hold on Kaoru, feeling his new lover sag against him, knees going weak with relief. As the six vampires and humans gathered around to discuss the latest threat made by the Lobelia clan, Kyouya couldn't help but wonder if the appearance of these bizarre twins would actually make life as a vampire more… normal. Or, as normal as life as a vampire could ever be. Certainly it would be more interesting and enjoyable… Kyouya wondered, but just at this moment, he was surprisingly content, and his mind was eager to latch onto the new task of preparing for war.

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of the prequel! And I wasn't planning on this, but… I'm writing another fic set in this universe! It's called That Familiar Taste of Blood, and it is set sometime after the events of Bloody Ties. It'll have some interesting insights into Honey's character, continue the war with Lobelia, and continue to follow the rest of the characters we all know and love, so go check it out! I'm posting the first chapter the second this is uploaded!


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